Bloodstained Mirror
by corrodedstar
Summary: Modern AU Yullen. "When you look in a mirror, what do you see?" They're two completely different people whose lives should never have intertwined, and yet those lives are tied together by a common past... and maybe, just maybe, the same future?
1. Red Sky at Night

**Summary:** Kanda Yuu is the only one in his class that Allen absolutely can't stand, but through a seemingly random contract and an odd twist of fate, the two of them are forced together in an unlikely relationship. The reason for that is unclear, but it turns out that the secrets behind Allen's past may be darker than either of them realized.

**Warning:** Rated T for swearing (by my standards, anyways), violence, and slightly mature themes. If you're not 13+, spare yourself and stay away. xD And if you're a particularly innocent 13-year-old... well, who am I kidding, no innocent 13-year-old would ship yullen anyways. Or read/watch DGM, for that matter.

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><p><em>Red Sky At Night<em>

_..._

Sometimes, looking back, Allen wondered what had gone wrong that day. Perhaps the ever-present fumes from the druggies' weed had gotten to his head. Or perhaps he had been so aggravated by Cross' endless debts that his subconscious had chosen to mess with him a little. But in the end, when he thought about it, he always came to the same conclusion: no matter what he could have done that night, the results would have been exactly the same.

The date was November 21. The air had already become chilly with the first breaths of winter, and the sun was setting sooner and sooner in the evening. Neither of those things could stop Allen from reveling in the feeling of losing himself in a book with the smell of the fresh air and the wind in his face, though.

When he finally lifted his eyes from the book he had been immersed in, the sky had already been dyed a dull orange-red, and gloomy gray clouds, too runty to bring rain, shuffled around aimlessly. All in all, it reminded him of a sky full of cigarette smoke. Or something like that. He wasn't much of a poet. But the point was that it was getting late, and today was one of the rare days that Cross Marian was actually going to come home. If he got back before Allen could finish making dinner, there would be hell to pay.

_So this is high school life. Just like the stories, huh?_

Allen Walker, age fifteen, high school sophomore. Perpetually short, doomed to spend more or less all of his childhood trying to pay off his chain-smoking womanizer of a legal guardian's debts. At least people had gotten tired of gossiping pointlessly about his unusual white hair and the scar on his face since his transfer at the beginning of the school year. It had taken seventy-six days; he had counted.

He picked up and dusted off the book that he had been reading before he had fallen asleep. The nasty smell of smoke filled his nose; there weren't any after-school junkies here anymore, but the smoke had probably seeped into the ground or something. This was supposed to be a children's playground, but since it was located right behind the high school, it had long become a popular ditching ground for students cutting class. That was more or less the entire school – not that the teachers cared. Allen had actually come here after school, not so much out of principle as out of laziness. Sneaking out was a pain.

Lost in his ponderings, it wasn't until several moments later that he realized he wasn't the only one still in the park. There was a figure with long, black hair lying unconscious in the grass a ways away from him. Asleep? Or maybe some druggie dead from overdose. Both were possible, he thought grimly. He would much rather have preferred to just leave, but his conscience – or what little of it he had – prevented him. Or maybe he just wanted to stall for time before he had to go back.

He walked up to the body and gingerly poked at it with his foot; there was an irritated mumble. Allen took a step back. At least _it_ was alive, whatever _it_ was. He could have sworn that it was a guy, but the hair covered its face, so there was no way to tell for sure.

"What the fuck are you doing, bitch?" _It_ muttered without opening his eyes. "Who the hell goes around poking at people like that, anyways?"

"I thought you might be dead of overdose or something," Allen told him, his mouth tightening. Whatever _it_ was, he was unpleasant.

"Hah! Why would I mess around with shit like that? I was just sleeping, and you woke me up." He sat up slowly, the hair falling out of his face so that Allen could actually see who it was. And he scowled.

"Oh. It's you. If I had known, I would have just let you rot." Allen grimaced with distaste. Kanda Yuu, possibly the person with most vile mouth in the entire school. He sat at the back of the classroom with a perpetually sour look on his face, never talking unless spoken to directly. Just once, there had been gossip about his hair, too. It had stopped in just one day; someone had mysteriously ended up in the hospital. After that, the gossip had turned to Kanda's violent tendencies – _those_ rumors had lasted seventy-eight days. Allen had counted that, too.

It wasn't so much the violence or the sour attitude that Allen disliked so much, though. After all, being in Cross' company for some three or so years, he had met much worse people in casinos and bars. They were usually old, smelly, and drunk more often than not, but despite how much they disgusted Allen with their creepy smiles that made him feel like some sort of _thing_, it wasn't as if he hated them. No, there was just something special about Kanda Yuu that pissed the hell out of Allen spectacularly.

"Don't worry, _freak_, I agree with your sentiments completely. What the fuck is up with your hair anyways? And what's with that weird baby face? Are you an old man or a girl or a five-year-old? Make up your mind." He snorted as he stood up leisurely, stretching widely.

Allen glared. "Like you're one to talk. If you want to talk about looking feminine, I couldn't even tell if you were a guy with that creepy ponytail of yours."

"At least I don't look like a fucking plant. You look like a bean sprout that didn't get enough sun or something."

"Don't you have somewhere you need to be? If you don't, there's a nice cliff a few miles south of here, I think."

"Perfect. We can go together and I can push you off." Kanda scoffed irritatingly, then turned and walked away before Allen could retort.

Allen gritted his teeth in frustration. He absolutely _hated_ this guy.

And then he kicked the ground as hard as he could, because now it was time to go make fucking dinner for that bastard of a legal guardian of his.

…

The apartment that Allen lived in was small and cramped and smelled – like almost everything in his life, it seemed – of smoke. There were only two rooms (three if you counted the bathroom), and one of them was Cross'. The other was the living room/kitchen, where Allen slept even when Cross was away (that was almost all the time), and he preferred it that way. At least the living room was bigger and didn't reek of alcohol and stale perfume.

Despite its imperfections, Allen would never complain about the apartment. After much sweat and toil, _he_ had been the one to find it, and it was _his_ earnings that paid the rent. Aside from his legal guardian's weird magazines and booze, all the furniture and miscellaneous accessories had been bought by _him._ In short, the home was more or less what Allen had made of it, and he liked it that way.

"Oi. Stupid brat. Here's the list." Cross, who had just returned after a three-month absence, tossed a thick packet of paper at him. He grimaced as he caught it and flipped through the pages, his face getting more and more horrified by the second.

"How did you spend that much in just three months?" Allen demanded, feeling sick to his stomach already. He regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. It was pointless to ask; after all, it was Marian Cross they were talking about.

To his relief, Cross had already engrossed himself in eating and had apparently decided to spare him the lecture. "Just get going. You know how it works already."

"What…? You mean, _alone?_" Allen stared. Surely not even Cross could be so…

"Well, duh. I'm fucking tired, stupid apprentice. You know self-defense and shit, you'll be fine. Besides, if you get into any trouble, I'm sure someone will be around to help you. Maybe." He muttered the last word with a frown, but then simply shrugged and downed another shot of alcohol. "Eh. Besides, it's not like I ever do shit there."

"Gee, I'm glad you noticed," Allen commented viciously under his breath, shooting his master a venomous look. Realizing that nothing was going to change the damned alcoholic's mind, he gave up and collected his coat before walking out. It was already nighttime in the city, and it was _cold_.

As he walked along the streets, his face freezing, he was careful to keep his fingers warm. The fingers were the most important, and he didn't want to fumble the first couple of rounds until he warmed up properly. Every penny was worth something, after all. He cursed. And just when he had almost paid off last time's debt, too. That bastard Cross. Where the hell did he go all the time, anyways? Did that old man even have a job? Allen couldn't for the life of him figure out how the man had been approved as a legal guardian in the first place. What the hell was Social Security doing?

In the midst of his dark thoughts, Allen almost missed the small, inconspicuous door to the underground casino. He wrinkled his nose as the smell of smoke and wine and cheap perfume assaulted his nose; no matter how much time passed, he would never get used to it. Rubbing his sweaty hands nervously, he pushed the door open. It didn't creak.

The inside was dimly lit and loud with laughter and the clink of glass and coin. If he strained, he could almost hear the sound of old 50's music, but he couldn't make out either the melody or the lyrics. The flickering orange lamps were perfect, though, for lulling a victim's eyes into missing the quick flashes and sleights of hand that Allen had perfected over the years. Now that he was inside, he slipped off his warm gloves and stuffed them in his bulky coat pocket.

"Allen! You're here already, huh? That bastard Cross is back?" The shaggy barkeep gave him a toothy grin. "How much has he got this time?"

Allen winced. "Twice as much as last time."

The man whistled in appreciation. "Looks like ol' Johnny won the bet. I thought last time was already the best he could do, eh?"

"Don't remind me," the boy groaned. "Let's just get this over with."

With a laugh, the old bartender waved at a table in the corner of the room. "Table nine, then. The old bastards are pretty drunk already. And they're new, so they dunno the dealers around here. Should be a piece of cake for you." He winked. "Just so ya know, I put my bets on you this time. Johnny said that you wouldn't be able to pay off those debts 'fore next summer, but I told 'im that spring was good 'nough. So I'll do ya a few favors. Don't disappoint, eh?"

"Thanks," Allen smiled gratefully. That would certainly be to his advantage. He _hoped_ he could get the whole damn thing off his back by spring. "I'll do my best."

"'Atta boy! That's the spirit!" The barkeeper gave him an encouraging clap on the back and shoved him towards the table. "Now go get your job done. Stop wasting time with me."

Allen sighed and obliged, seating himself in the dealer's spot. As he reached for the cards, though, one of his challengers snatched the deck away. "We don't trust you," he said a bit nastily. "So we'll be shuffling."

"Sure," Allen shrugged. It was a bit unusual, but if they shuffled, they'd probably fall for his tricks more easily. Besides, he could understand not being trusted. If he were them, he wouldn't trust himself, either. While his opponents fumbled around with the deck, he studied them. The barkeeper had been right – all of them were unfamiliar faces. They were clearly inexperienced with cards and, judging from the redness in their faces and the empty glasses on the table, already drunk. As long as no one brought out any knives or fists, he'd be fine.

"Here." The ringleader of the group tossed him the deck clumsily, but he caught it nonetheless and began deftly dealing it out. None of them noticed as a few choice cards disappeared down his sleeve and reappeared again later in the game. The whole thing was over in a flash. Allen grinned secretly, as he hid his face in his scarf. Piece of cake. They must have realized that they were already far too drunk, because they paid up without protesting too much and quickly left.

While he was still stuffing the money into the inside pocket of his shirt, he heard a small squeak behind him. Turning, he saw an unfamiliar man at a nearby table aim a fist at a girl with long, black hair tied up in twin tails and miss horribly. He sighed. If someone had been messing around with Lenalee, Komui would come and disrupt the entire bar, and he wouldn't be able to get any of the money he desperately needed to earn.

After several minutes, however, it became plain that no irate and furious Komui was going to show up, and the stranger was still bellowing drunkenly. Lenalee tried to calm him down, but it appeared that nothing was working. This, Allen thought wryly, was why he hated alcohol. As the man leaned back to try at another punch, Allen quickly stood up and caught his wrist.

"Sir, it's rude to threaten our employees," he said as politely and patiently as he could at the moment.

The man glared at him. "Fuck off, bitch," he snarled. "This ain't a playground for brats."

Allen's face twitched. That was the second time he had been called a bitch in the same day, and it wasn't improving his mood. "Excuse me, _sir_, but I'd like to ask you to _get the hell out_ if you have nothing better to do than to disturb everyone else in here." He grated out, his face forced into a tense smile.

With another bellow, the stranger looked as if he wanted to start a fight, but one of his neighbors, a unfamiliar man with thick glasses and wiry hair, quickly whispered to him in a low voice. The first man froze, his face falling in resentment, but he lowered his fist anyways and sat back down with an angry hiss.

"Pardon us," the second man said smoothly. "My friend's just had a bit too much to drink. We'll be leaving now. Pleased to make your acquaintance, by the way." He flashed a quick smile before standing up and motioning to his companions, who followed him out the door.

Allen made sure that they had left before he sighed wearily and ran his fingers through his hair as he turned to Lenalee. "Where's Komui?" he asked tiredly.

"He's not here today," the girl explained. "Got called away for some science conference."

"Lenalee," Allen groaned. "Get a proper job. It's not safe here. You're a _high school girl_, for heaven's sake, and you're working in an _illegal bar_ full of drunkards. What if you get knifed in the back or raped or kidnapped in some dark alleyway as you walk home?"

"You're working here, aren't you?" Lenalee asked pointedly. "Besides, I know plenty of self-defense. I've whooped your sorry ass on more than one occasion, might I add." Allen grimaced. He remembered. "And anyways, a proper job doesn't make as much money. I need to save for college, after all. I can't let Komui do all the work."

"Whatever," Allen gave up. Lenalee was even more stubborn than him, and he doubted that anything he said would convince her. With a shrug, he sat down at the next table and began dealing the cards again. It wasn't until several hours later that he finally left; by then it was well past midnight, and he cursed as he remembered the ridiculous amount of homework he still had to get done.

The minute he stepped out onto the street, he could feel that something was wrong. The hair on the back of his neck stood up as a chill passed through his body. His heart began to beat faster, his hands feeling abnormally warm. _Adrenaline surge. A fight-or-flight response in response to a potentially dangerous external stimulus_, some part of his head told him. _Shut up,_ he told it.

A couple of men stepped into view. Some of them had metal baseball bats in their hands; a knife flashed threateningly in one hand. Allen swallowed as he recognized the man who had tried to hit Lenalee. _Damn, how cheesy can this get?_ he thought wryly. It was like those old Westerns where a gang of hoodlums tried to beat up the hero over a girl. Or something. He didn't watch a lot of movies, so maybe he was thinking of sci-fi. But that didn't sound right, either… _Shut up,_ he told his brain again.

"Good evening," he said a bit nervously. Damn Cross – where was the bastard when you needed him? Though he'd probably have ditched Allen at this point anyways. Useless drunkard. "I don't see why you'd have any business with me…"

The man narrowed his eyes. His snarl was slightly slurred – he was still a bit drunk, no doubt. "Thanks to you, I lost face in front of Master Tyki," he growled. Master Tyki? What a weird name. Maybe the man was hallucinating from all the alcohol. Either way, it just sounded like a bad excuse for anger management issues.

Allen quickly considered his options - five big, muscular men with three baseball bats, one old pipe, and one knife; fleeing would probably be the best option. He ran.

The wind that blew at his face was bitingly cold, but his body was too hot already, so he didn't feel it. All he could feel was the blood pounding in his ears like some sort of deathly battle drum. He didn't pay attention to his surroundings, either; all he was aware of was that he had a small mob of armed and angry drunks after him, and that was generally not a good thing. Perhaps if he had paid attention, he could have gotten away safely; but then again, he had a talent for getting lost whether or not he actually tried to navigate his path, so probably not. Somewhere along the way, though, his feet had ended up taking him along an unfamiliar street, and he skidded to a stop as the long alleyway ended in a tall concrete building. A dead end.

Behind him, the sound of angry yells and heavy footsteps was faint, but if he could hear it, it was only a matter of time before they got close. He cursed again.

"It's a dead end." The familiar, curt voice held a tinge of condescension. Surprised, he whirled around. Sure enough, it was the one person he really did not want to see at the moment leaning casually against the wall, blending in perfectly with the gray shadows.

"Thank you, Kanda," he said tersely, gritting his teeth. "I hadn't noticed at all. It would be nice to chat with you, but I really have to go." He didn't even wait to finish his sentence before he started running in the opposite direction, trying to get out of the long, one-way street before the men behind caught up.

"Too late." Kanda's voice was flat. "They're almost here. Brilliant job, bean sprout. You have a natural talent for this sort of thing, don't you?"

"Shut the fuck up. I'm trying to think."

"You'll be here all night before _you_ think of something." Kanda smirked. "If you beg really, really hard, though, I might be tempted to help."

"Over my dead body."

"Hell, it really will be." He was right. The sound of footsteps was getting closer. Allen knew that there was no way he would die, but he really didn't want to get into a fight… He considered the offer.

"_Please_, will you help?" He forced the words out, choking on his pride.

"… maybe."

"_What?_" Allen hissed, frustrated. "But you said— Oh, whatever. You probably couldn't take them anyways."

At _that_, Kanda narrowed his eyes. "Want to try me? If I win, you'll be groveling at my feet for an entire week."

"Sure. _If_ you win. But one scratch and the bet is mine."

"Deal." With inhuman speed, a knife was already flashing in his hand. It was a beautiful weapon – not too long or broad as to be bulky, but not too small, either. It almost had a sort of cold elegance about it as the slender blade curved ever so slight and glinted silver in the night. And it looked well-worn.

The men had arrived. They seemed a bit surprised to find Kanda standing there, but perhaps their alcohol-ridden brains didn't quite register the way he stood calmly, expertly, with no openings and no hesitation, the knife held casually in his hand as if he had been born holding it.

Almost instantly, the fight was over. Kanda slashed at the head gorilla mercilessly, kicking him in the stomach and slamming him into a wall. The man slumped to the ground, a trickle of blood running down from the corner of his mouth. The others tried to overwhelm him by swarming him, but he moved swiftly behind them and knocked out two others before the remaining men decided to flee, their alcohol-induced bravery doused.

True to his word, Kanda hadn't gotten a single scratch. Allen swallowed and tentatively edged over to one of the unconscious men. "He's not… dead, is he?" He asked cautiously, staying well out of the man's reach just in case his reflexes still worked. He had heard of people who had gotten injured by dying men.

Kanda snorted. "Why are you worried about _them_? If that piece of shit that you call a brain can remember, they were screaming after your blood just a moment ago."

"Well, yeah, but you can't just kill them, either…" He examined the unconscious man dubiously.

With a dirty look, Kanda sighed. "He's not dead. And honestly, I don't know why you aren't either. For someone who cheats for a living, you're pretty naïve."

"I'm not," Allen scowled indignantly.

"You got into this mess because you tried to help that girl, right?"

"What? You were there?"

"Not by choice," Kanda muttered, his face twitching. "Whatever." He shrugged. "Well, whatever you do is none of my business. Just make sure you stay alive for the week. For your information, I won't accept being called by anything other than 'Master Kanda' or 'Your Majesty' or maybe even 'God' if you want. And as for yourself, you can just address yourself as 'this piece of shit,' 'scum,' 'worthless bitch,' etc." He smirked infuriatingly and began walking away.

This, Allen thought with a grimace, had to be the absolute worst day of his life. At that moment, Cross could give him any amount of debt, and it would still be better. He sighed, wishing that the week would be over already.

...

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><p>Lame ending. But this chapter was already getting a bit too long for my comfort. I'm still not done with setup though. sigh

The plot bunnies were eating at my head with this one. I just walked by the park near my school one day and POOF, the idea came. And stayed. It's changed a lot since I first came up with it, though. Well, at any rate, I'll do my best with having two series at once. I've already got quite a bit of work done on both anyways, so it should be fine.

Since this is a relatively real-world AU, I feel the need to say this:

**Disclaimer (important!):** This fanfic was **not** meant to target or offend any groups or political and ideological beliefs, nor was it made to make any sort of political or ideological statement. The opinions expressed by the characters in this story do not necessarily reflect those of the author, and I truly apologize if anyone feels offended in any way by anything I may write.

And while I'm at it, I might as well say the usual "DGM doesn't belong to me" and whatever. But I mean, it's fanfic, so... I'm pretty sure people get it... fair use clause and all that crap. Yeah.

Well, anyways, hope you liked, and thanks for reading! And please review~! xDDD Reviews give me inspiration and happiness~ Like chocolate. And love. (probably)


	2. In the Face of Death

A quick update this time because I dislike leaving the story at only one chapter. ^^ Next one'll prolly take a longer. Well, anyways, here it is. This chapter isn't stupendously long like that last one. /laughs

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><p><em>In the Face of Death<em>

_..._

"Why," Allen asked for the twentieth time that day, "are you still following me? _Your Highness,_" he added through clenched teeth.

"One, because I have business this way, and two, because you'd get lost. You can't grovel at my feet if you get lost and wither away in some unknown place, bean sprout."

"What business could you possibly have? This is _my fucking house._" In his haste, Allen nearly dropped the key as he fumbled through his coat pocket. Swearing with a vehemence unusual for him, he finally managed to force the door open and stumble wearily into his beloved home. Now if only Cross would disappear.

Speaking of the bastard, he was sitting on the couch, smoking. Allen gritted his teeth; he'd have to sleep on the floor until he managed to get that bastard's shit off of the sofa. That was fine; he had a sleeping bag and some blankets reserved for such purposes, though he wasn't looking forward to the cleaning at all.

"Oh. Stupid apprentice, you're back." Cross squinted as he noticed the person behind Allen. "Is that this 'Kanda Yuu' that Tiedoll was going on about?" He asked dubiously. "He doesn't look so tough to me… Looks kinda girly, actually."

Well, apparently, the two people he hated most in the world knew each other. Big surprise.

Kanda's mouth twitched. "Shut up, bastard."

"Since you're already here, and since Allen's not beat up like shit, I'm guessing you already had to take care of some trouble?" Cross raised an eyebrow.

"Your piece of shit apprentice gets into more fucking trouble than was stated," Kanda said curtly, irritated. "He literally ran into a bloody mess the moment he stepped out of the damn door."

Cross grunted. "Yeah, that's him." He glanced at Allen, who was still staring, dumbfounded. "So, shitty apprentice, this is Kanda, blah, blah, blah and all that. Since you are more trouble than you're worth, and I certainly can't be bothered to look after you, and Tiedoll, who is my colleague of sorts, is overly concerned with your welfare, I was forced to allow Kanda, who is Tiedoll's foster son or something, to be your babysitter. Or bodyguard, or whatever."

"Colleague? You have a _job?_" Allen blurted before he understood the rest of the sentence. Then: "You mean I'm stuck with _him?_"

"And by _him_, you mean 'his Majesty, Lord Kanda.'" Kanda muttered under his breath, but Allen ignored him.

Cross gave both of them a dirty look. "Yes, I have a job, and yes, you are stuck with him. Which you should be grateful for because I certainly don't feel like saving your sorry ass whenever you get into trouble."

"But why now? It's not like I've needed one for the past three years!" Allen protested.

At that, Cross and Kanda shared a look that Allen did not miss, but Kanda merely shrugged and Cross told him with a snort, "It's because you get dumber with every passing year. I swear, I actually remember when you used to be a cute little kid."

"It's your fault for raising me like that, then," Allen commented under his breath indignantly. "It's probably because you got into a deal with some illegal organ dealers or something, isn't it?" It wasn't until Allen had already said the words that he realized that he had been a little more vehement than he had intended to be. Luckily, though, if Cross heard him, he chose to ignore it.

"Wait." A thought suddenly hit him and he turned to Kanda. "So you're saying that even if I hadn't begged, you still would have had to help? So, in other words, it was completely unnecessary?"

"Oops. Did I forget to mention? Pity." Kanda rolled his eyes, his voice condescending.

"Wha—! You son of a..." Allen felt the blood rising to his head.

"By that, you mean 'oh great and glorious Master Kanda,'" the other boy said smugly with a wave of his hands, turning. "Well, at any rate, I don't have time to play with bean sprouts."

"You…! I swear, when I—" _Slam._ The bastard had slammed his _own fucking door_ in his face. Allen stared at the piece of wood furiously before opening it viciously and yelling out onto the street, "I wasn't done, coward! You'd better be prepared for tomorrow, because you are _so fucking dead._" There was no movement outside, and Allen never did find out whether Kanda had heard him. Cursing, he closed the door again.

"Well, have fun with that," Cross told him with a yawn. "I am going to bed. And if you complain, I'll tear your ears off, so shut up."

"Fine," Allen snapped. The whole world was out to get him or something. Angrily, he gathered his sleeping bag and blankets and dragged them onto the carpet, fuming. After all, despite everything, he was _tired_, and he somehow managed to fall asleep quickly without any trouble.

…

Allen actually woke the next morning in a good mood because Cross' presence was already gone. That meant that he wouldn't have to wait on his stupid, selfish master anymore until the next time he came back. He was also in a good mood because for the first time in a while, he hadn't had any nightmares about his grades for school, so he thought that maybe this time around he'd actually get enough proper rest to be able to focus on the tests. So, as a result, it was with an unusually good mood that he had picked up the innocent-looking slip of paper that had been left on the table.

_Dear stupid apprentice,_

_ I'm leaving. If I'm lucky, I'll never have to see your ugly face again._

_ Sincerely, Cross_

And that was when Allen's good mood vanished. It wasn't because the note had some pretty horrible words – after all, the message was almost _nice_ for Cross. The fact that Cross had even left a message was the worrisome part – he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Still, he was determined to be happy about it and enjoy his relative freedom while he could. No Cross, no Cross, no Cross… he chanted to himself like some sort of spell.

_Knock._ A hard rap on the flimsy wooden door interrupted his thoughts. He ignored it, hoping that whoever it was would just go away. Just a few seconds later, though, the person outside had apparently waited enough and had begun banging on the door. Allen winced; if the door broke, it would cost him a small fortune. Hastily, he opened it. And immediately regretted doing so.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He demanded sourly. "Have you decided to become a professional stalker or something?"

Kanda glared at him. "Something like that. I'm supposed to save your sorry ass from whatever sort of shit you get yourself into, remember? It's not like I'm happy about this. It's a fucking _job_, bean sprout. So stop flattering yourself."

"You can save yourself the trouble," Allen informed him, irritated. "In all my fifteen years, I have never gotten myself into any life-threatening danger."

"Oh? And I suppose yesterday doesn't count."

Allen shifted uncomfortably. "I wouldn't have died…" he muttered. "I just don't like fighting."

"Ha! What are you, a pacifist or something?" Kanda snorted. "If someone comes at you with a fucking knife, _you fucking fight back_, bean sprout. Either that, or you die. You don't have time to think about their _feelings_ or whatever shit goes through that rotten head of yours."

Allen shot him a dirty look. "It's not their _feelings _I'm concerned about… it's just… I just don't like fighting. So shut up."

"Whatever. Either way, I'm not here to protect you, got it? I'm just here to make sure you don't die. Whether or not you get a few bones knocked around has nothing to do with me." He tossed his head dismissively as they approached the school gates, and Allen swore that he had never been more glad to see the giant metal bars that reminded him eerily of some sort of prison cell. Still, they were the ticket away from Kanda Yuu at the moment, and he sighed in relief.

"Well, _bitch_, I have a class to go to, so unfortunately, I can't stay and chat," Allen said with mock chagrin before turning around hastily and scurrying away. Even the little insult was uncharacteristic of him, but damn, that Kanda pissed him off so badly. He was allowed just a tiny bit of revenge, right?

He slid into his seat in record time, slightly out of breath but satisfied nonetheless. It was still ten minutes before class started; he pulled out a notebook quickly. His first class was chemistry, and he had already finished the homework for that, but he still had to do math and history… As he scribbled random answers into his notebook, his brain raced furiously, trying to calculate exactly how many minutes he had in each class to finish the rest of his work. This, he thought wryly, was why his grades were so bad. He just never had enough time. It was all that bastard Cross' fault. Damn that bastard, damn him, damn him…

"You… are… _so fucking dead_ this time, bean sprout." A breathless voice hissed in his ear as a hand grabbed his shoulder, making him jump.

"Kanda!" He blanched, his heart sinking. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean, what am I doing? I'm in your fucking class!" He scowled.

"But this is _advanced_ chemistry…"

"Are you trying to imply something, bean sprout?" Kanda raised an eyebrow dangerously.

"No… but…"

"By the way, shall we have a little chat about your earlier 'comment'?" Kanda asked smoothly, his voice dark. "And damn, you can sure run fast, coward."

"What? Too slow to keep up, _Your Highness?_" Allen said with a smug grin, but the warm feeling vanished as a small, cold piece of metal bit into his skin. He paled. "You wouldn't."

"Try me." It was Kanda's turn to look smug.

"Knives are forbidden on campus." Damn it, why wasn't anyone in the classroom yet?

"First someone has to notice, bean sprout."

Allen swallowed. He was just contemplating his final wishes when the bell rang, and the knife vanished with a small rustle. Kanda sighed, irritated. "You got lucky this time," he muttered as he went back to his own seat in the back of the room. With the unmasked hostility emanating from that direction, Allen wondered how on earth he had missed the fact that Kanda was in his chemistry class for almost three months. It was possibly because Allen was usually asleep.

When the period ended, he more or less dashed to his next class without giving Kanda a chance to threaten him again. In this situation, his neck was more important than his pride, he decided. Which was ironic, since Kanda was supposed to make sure that he _didn't_ die, wasn't he? But then, since it was a deal that had apparently involved Cross, Allen didn't trust it either way.

Somehow, he did manage to make it through the day without too much trouble. To his utter relief, he didn't suddenly find Kanda in any of his other classes, but as he slammed his gym locker shut, he realized that he still had to contend with him in his last class of the day, English. He bit his lip. Perhaps today would be a good day to ditch class after all…

"Where are you going? The classroom is that way." Speak of the devil, Allen thought, gritting his teeth and shifting into a defensive stance as Kanda's ever-so-irritating voice sounded.

"You really have this stalking thing down to an art, don't you?"

"I have good instincts. And I had a feeling you were going to ditch. Coward." He muttered the last word under his breath before giving Allen an odd look. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like I'm going to eat you or something." He said with a snort, gesturing at Allen's wary expression and tense posture.

"What kind of question is that? You were the one who tried to kill me this morning!"

"What?" Kanda stared at him blankly. "When did I do that?"

"Do you have the attention span of a goldfish or something?" Allen demanded, furious. "In chemistry!"

There was a long pause. Finally, understanding dawned on Kanda's face. "Oh, that. I was kidding."

"Wha—"

"I can't _actually_ kill you," he scoffed. "It's a mission. Speaking of which," he added, looking disgruntled, "You're supposed to move in with me today."

"Move in—There is a limit to how much you screw up my life! Give me a good reason as to why I should." Allen crossed his arms stubbornly. "I told you already, I've spent three years of my life paying off that bastard Cross' debts, and I am still perfectly fine. There is no reason as to why you or Cross or whoever should start interfering now."

"And _I've_ already told you, bean sprout, that I'm not any happier than you are." Kanda shot back tersely. "So if you want to blame someone, blame that fucking bastard of a guardian of yours, because he's probably the one who got you involved in the dangerous shit that he does."

Allen stared. "Cross…? What—"

"I don't know," Kanda cut in. "So don't ask. And you're sleeping in the living room. No questions."

"Fine," Allen snapped, irritated, before he caught himself. "Wait, not about the other thing! I'm still staying in my own apartm—"

_Slam._ What… Had Kanda just slammed the door in his face? _Again?_ _Who the hell does that, anyways?_ he fumed, kicking it open and storming to his seat before he realized that he was supposed to be ditching class. It was all that damn bastard's fault.

...

* * *

><p>What a crappy chapter ending. o.o Well, whatever. The plot bunnies won't really start to bite for a while, so for now it's just random stuff. ^^ Although there's a bit of foreshadowing. Cookies to anyone who guesses right about later chapters, rawr. If you do, I'll be really impressed. Either that, or I'm just predictable. And DGM fanfics are predictable. sigh

Anyways, hope you liked~ And please review! ^^


	3. The Scent of Home

_The Scent of Home_

_..._

"You can't."

"What do you mean, 'you can't'?"

"Just that, shit-for-brains."

"Go fuck yourself and die in a hole, Kanda."

"Either way, you still can't. I refuse to allow such dirty-smelling things into my house."

"If you want to blame someone, blame Cross," Allen glared. "He's the one smoking."

"Say what you want. You're still not allowed to bring anything that smells like stale tobacco." Kanda scowled for a few moments before relenting with a sigh, running his hand through his hair impatiently. "Tiedoll already went and bought everything necessary for you, so you don't need that shit anyways."

Surprised, Allen considered the news. "Well, I'm not paying for it," he decided. "Since you're the one who's making me throw all my old stuff away."

"Whatever. So can we go already, bean sprout?"

"Wait! There's still one thing." Allen called as he dug through the heaps of old junk in the closet. Kanda wrinkled his nose. He managed to unearth a small mahogany chest within minutes, closing the door on the rest of the closet. As much as he hated to part with it all, everything else was replaceable.

"Finally," Kanda muttered darkly as they left. "How long does it take to find one damn box?" Allen ignored him. As they walked, he gripped the small box tightly as if it might suddenly vanish. He hadn't actually taken it out or even worried about it for months, but now he was suddenly swept by paranoia as he imagined it getting lost or stolen.

Preoccupied with his thoughts, he almost walked straight into Kanda as they stopped in front of a relatively plain apartment complex. The building looked pretty new and well-kept, but it was neither high-tech nor ostentatious. Almost boring.

Kanda's apartment was, apparently, on the very top floor. The building was thirteen stories high and had no elevator, and by the time they got to the top, Allen was actually glad that he hadn't brought much. Not that he would ever admit it. He waited with slight impatience as Kanda turned the key to the lock, wondering what the inside would look like. When the door was opened, though, the first thing that hit him was warm air from a heater.

"It's… normal," he said with just a bit of disappointment. It was true; the living room was almost completely empty except for a few sparse pieces of furniture, but it was completely normal. Plain.

"What were you expecting?" Kanda asked, giving him a disparaging glance.

"I dunno. Some bloodstains, murder weapons, torture devices, maybe even a couple of skeletons or something…"

"Well, we can get some just for you," he said sarcastically with a look that could wither even dead grass. "You have the weirdest misconceptions of people, bean sprout."

"It's not a misconception. I bet your place is only normal so you can't get caught," Allen muttered under his breath. Apparently he was heard, though, because a book flew at his head just a second later.

"At least my place doesn't smell like smoke and flirty, drunk old men."

Allen winced. He didn't have a retort for that one. That damn bastard Cross.

"At any rate, the crap that Tiedoll got for you is in the closet in the hallway. I don't use the living room anyways, so you can do whatever the hell you want with it. Come into my room and you're dead, though."

"Sure." Allen shrugged. It wasn't that different from his old lifestyle anyways, if you substituted in one insufferable bastard for the other.

Kanda had already walked off, so he tucked his box under his arm and went to open the closet to inspect his new belongings. Inside was a soft and thick sleeping bag, as well as several sets of clothing, including a large, warm coat to replace the old one that he was wearing. He fingered the fabric with delight – it was both sturdy and comfortable. Whoever this Tiedoll person was, he was surprisingly thoughtful. After folding the clothes and setting them aside, he kept rummaging to find a toothbrush, a few towels, a hairbrush… Everything he could have possibly needed, he thought with amazement as he rearranged the items neatly. Maybe life wouldn't be that bad after all.

With a sigh, he remembered that he still had plenty of homework to do before his so-called "job" at the bar. Impatiently, he pulled out his books from his backpack – Kanda hadn't protested when he'd brought his textbooks, at least – and flipped open the first one. And groaned. He'd fallen asleep in chemistry during the lecture, and nothing on the page made any sense.

"The hell…?" He muttered, staring down the diagrams as if that would help. "What the hell is a sigma bond anyways?" With a sigh, he tried to concentrate on reading the tiny words on the page.

To his credit, he had gotten through a good portion of the lesson before he lost his train of thought and fell asleep, his pencil and paper slipping out of his hand. Vague dreams about localized orbitals and atomic structures danced around in his head like some sort of freaky circus, making him grimace in distaste. Damned school. Damned job. Damned chemistry…

"You did this part wrong, bean sprout," was the first thing he heard when he started to slip back into reality.

"What?" He winced at his throbbing head.

"I said, you did this part wrong. Double bonds are made up of one sigma bond and one pi bond, dumbass."

"Wha…?" Allen hit his head against the wall behind him as he tried to get up, eliciting a snort from Kanda. He tried to focus on the paper. It looked completely alien to him.

"But there are two of them."

"Two of what?"

"The lobes…" He squinted at the textbook as if trying to decipher some sort of ancient scripture.

"That's because they haven't been hybridized," Kanda enunciated slowly, rolling his eyes, unable to resist adding, "Stupid bean sprout."

"Agh, that's not fair. Why do you know this?" Allen threw his hands up in exasperation.

"Because I wasn't sleeping in class, obviously."

"Oh, _shit!_" He scrambled up in a sudden panic, knocking over his books and pens. "I fell asleep! I have to get to the bar before I'm late." He was about to race over to get his old coat when Kanda blocked his way smoothly.

"No, you're not. You're quitting that job. If you can even call it one, anyways."

"What's that supposed to mean? I can't afford to quit now! Have you _seen_ Cross' debts from the last three months?" Allen stared in disbelief.

"He can't legally force you to pay back his debts."

"Well, yeah, but it's _Cross_. It's not like it matters to him whether or not it's legal."

Kanda groaned. "Why is this always so difficult with you? _You've been absolved of the debt_, happy?"

"Yeah? Prove it," Allen challenged skeptically.

Wordlessly, Kanda shoved a wrinkled piece of paper in his hands, which he read with some trepidation. As his eyes scanned the brusque words and the careless, scrawling signature at the bottom, he could hardly believe his luck. "Are you serious?" He asked in amazement.

"So give up already, won't you?"

"Oh, but if that's true, I should still go so I can save up some money," he said unthinkingly as he reached for his coat again. He was jolted out of his daze by a loud slam as Kanda's hand hit the door.

"Do you not have a brain? The more you go there, the more dangerous it is for you! Especially now that they've tracked you there…" He stopped suddenly as he realized that he had said too much.

Allen froze. "Who's '_they'_?" He asked suspiciously.

"Nothing! Just shut up. You're not going there, understand?"

"I'll agree if you tell me who _they_ is."

"I don't know," Kanda snapped.

"Is that so? That's too bad. I'll just have to find out, then." He turned, ready to break through the window. The repair costs would make him cringe, but such measly prices couldn't even begin to compare to Cross' debts anyways.

"Fine!" The Japanese hissed irritably.

"Really?" Allen asked, letting down his guard for a moment in surprise.

"Obviously not." All it took was a moment. Kanda had already grabbed both of his hands and tied them together crudely with his hair tie before hauling him off to the bathroom and locking the door from the outside. "Like hell you can make me talk with something that stupid, bean sprout." He scoffed.

Allen had already slipped his wrists out of the flimsy ribbon, and he banged on the door furiously. "That was a dirty trick!" He yelled as loudly as he could. Maybe a neighbor would come along and complain about the noise.

"Shut up, _cheater_! You're really not one to talk," Kanda shouted back, equally provoked. Guessing Allen's thoughts, he added, "And don't wait for anyone to hear you, either! We're the only ones living in the top part of the building, so the nearest neighbors are still on floor ten. That's three floors down."

Allen kicked the door angrily in response.

Despite Kanda's smug assertion, however, a knock on the door interrupted them several minutes later. Kanda got to his feet – in a huff, probably, judging from his impatient footsteps – and Allen listened as the outside door swung open.

"Is this where Allen lives now?" To his stunned disbelief, he heard Lenalee's voice, muffled by the walls.

"What the hell are _you_ doing here?" Kanda said, making an irritated noise in his throat. It sounded like they knew each other.

"My brother told me that he's moving in with you. That's a big relief, actually, since I was always worried about his health with Cross… Do you mind if I come in? I thought I heard Allen's voice from outside."

"_Yes_, I fucking mind if you come in. And no, you did not hear his voice. It was probably that screwed up head of yours."

"Is he out right now? I see, then I'll come back later."

"Wait!" Allen called desperately, seeing the light of rescue in his eyes. "Hang on, Lenalee, help! I'm being held against my will! Don't leave!"

Lenalee froze. Then, finally, in her sweetest voice, she asked, "Say, Kanda, was that my imagination, too?" Despite her smile, she was most definitely ticked off, and Kanda couldn't help noticing how similar the expression was to Allen's.

"Pathetic," he said, disgruntled. "Whining for help from a girl now, bean sprout?" Well, at least he wouldn't run off; that accomplished the goal, though Kanda still felt somehow irritated that Allen had resorted to begging Lenalee to help. Nonetheless, he obligingly opened the bathroom door, letting out a relieved bean sprout.

Lenalee took the chance to enter the room, resting several large bags on the floor. "I brought some soba and other food for a moving party," she said with a smile, glancing pleadingly at Kanda. He gave a huff. "I mean," she continued, "it is _so_ difficult to find good Japanese food around here…"

"Fine."

Victory. Lenalee grinned. "Lavi will—"

"No."

Allen watched in awe as Lenalee gave a mock sigh. "Pity. I guess I'll have to share the soba with Komui after all."

A muscle on Kanda's face twitched. "Fine, but I swear, if that damn rabbit calls my 'Yuu' one more time, I'll _slaughter_ him. Understand?"

"Deal." Lenalee said with a sigh of relief as she went outside to call the redhead.

"You know Lavi and Lenalee?" Allen asked Kanda, surprised. "I wouldn't have known."

Kanda gave him a glare in response.

"How do you know them, anyways?" He couldn't help asking.

"None of your business." Curtly.

Allen rolled his eyes. It wasn't as if he had expected a straight response though, he thought, as he gave up and turned his attention to the food while the others returned.

...

* * *

><p>Oh, hey look, absolutely nothing happened this chapter. thumpsup. Yeah. I'm so cool. 2000 words' worth of nothingness. Either way, it was fun to write. xD I hope it was fun to read. Aaaand I managed to sneak in (with all the stealth of a potato) a bit of shitty foreshadowing. Let's all pretend I meant to do that in the first place. Yeahhhh.

This was actually supposed to be Wednesday's update, but I have no self-control rawr. So here it is, half a week early.

Well, anyways, hope you enjoyed reading! And a huge thank you to everyone who reviewed! You guys are all freaking epic. I could drown you all in my (diluted aqueous solution of) utter love and affection (love is soluble, affection is not). But, in all seriousness, it really is amazing to get reviews. And very inspirational, so if you enjoyed it, I'd love to hear from you. (Oh, who am I kidding. Here, I'll just beg piteously. PLEASE REVIEW! :DDD I mean, as a fanfic writer, it's one of my prerogatives, right?)

And soooo... look forward to the next chapter, I guess? xD

... I sound like such a spazz. I swear I'm not like this irl. Usually. I wrote this author's comment over the course of several days, so that explains the disjointedness of it.


	4. Red on Black

_Red on Black_

_..._

"Why…" Allen groaned as he flopped over his chemistry textbook. "I really shouldn't have slept in that class, no matter how tired I was." He rubbed his aching head in frustration as he began to keep reading.

Lavi, who worked as a library assistant after school, heard his despairing moans and walked over curiously. "What brings you to the library, Allen? I've never seen you come here before. And why are you so depressed, anyways?"

"I don't understand _any_ of this," Allen complained. "This stuff about expanded octets and hybridization and _dsp3_. I don't get it at all. What's with these weird shapes, anyways?" He suddenly perked up as an idea came to him. "Lavi, you're smart, aren't you? Can't you explain this stuff to me?"

"Sorry, I'm a biology person," the redhead apologized with a grin. "If you ever want to know about ecological and cell processes, you can come to me. Lenalee's taking advanced physics, though. That's close enough to chemistry that she might be able to help, I suppose?"

"I've already tried," Allen sighed. "No good."

"Why are you so concerned about getting a good score, anyways? Don't you already have really good grades? And with a bunch of honors classes, too."

"It's because I'm here on a scholarship," he explained. "Since this is a private school, I get all of my books and stuff for free, so I don't have to worry about that on top of Cross' debts. I have to keep straight A's or else I'll get kicked out."

"Oh. That's tough." Lavi was silent for a moment. "Why don't you just ask Yuu? He takes chemistry, doesn't he? And I think he's doing pretty well in it, too."

"What?" Allen stared at him. "But he's so… thickheaded."

Lavi laughed. "Yeah. Sometimes I can't tell if he's brilliant or dumb. His grades are all either D's or A's."

"Doesn't that resemble your report card a bit too much?" Allen asked, raising an eyebrow, and Lavi stopped laughing with a pout.

"Fine. So why are you here, anyways? You never did answer that question."

"Well, it's just… it's a bit uncomfortable to walk home with Kanda," he admitted. "He alternates between completely ignoring you or glaring at you like you're offending his existence just by breathing the same air."

"Ahh…" Lavi exhaled with a whistle. "Sounds tough. At least he hasn't tried to strangle you yet."

"Only because he's not allowed to," Allen grumbled. "I swear my life span's gonna get cut in half from the stress."

"At least you've quit your, um, job," Lavi offered with a grin. "Now you have more time to rest, right?"

"Not really," he muttered darkly. "Since I can't even get much sleep…"

"Really? How come?" A mischievous look flashed across Lavi's face. "Does Yuu snore? Tell me he does!"

"What? No. Maybe. I've never heard. It's just so _weird_ there_._ It doesn't smell like smoke, you know? And I swear, even from his room, Kanda emits hostile electromagnetic waves or something. I feel like I'm going to get murdered every night." He sighed and yawned as he was reminded of how little he had slept the night before. "You know, maybe I'll just take a nap here and do this later," he mumbled, putting his head on the table. "Wake me up when the library closes, Lavi?"

"Sure, sure, you poor thing," Lavi said with a laugh before leaving to rearrange the books in the autobiography section.

…

"Allen!"

What? He thought irritably, just wanting to sleep some more.

"Hey, Allen! Wake up! The library's closed!" Lavi yelled into his ear, causing him to jump up, startled.

"Did you have to do that so loudly?" He complained, rubbing his sore ear.

"Well, I've been calling you for the last five minutes," Lavi said with snicker, showing no trace of guilt. "You should get moving, or the old panda librarian's gonna come and kick you out."

Allen winced. "I'd rather not get beaten up," he said as he hastily gathered his books. "Thanks for today, anyways. I'll see you later," he said with a wave before hurrying out the school gates. He stopped when he noticed a familiar street. It was one of the streets that he used to take to go to the bar…

He checked his watch. 5:40. It was a bit early, but the barkeeper would probably be there. Allen had never properly told him about his situation, after all, and he didn't know if Kanda had, either. He definitely owed it to the barkeeper to at least notify him about his quitting. Decisively, he began heading towards the shady street.

"Allen! It's been a few days, eh?" The barkeeper grinned toothily at him as he pushed the old, dirty door open. "Back to work?"

"No, actually, I'm here to tell you that I'm quitting," he said a bit hesitantly. "Some things came up with Cross, and…"

The old man nodded. "That bastard finally decided to get a decent bit o' responsibility? Good for him. And good for you, too, son. Though our customers will miss ya."

Allen grinned. "Probably not. Good riddance, more like, seeing as I usually empty their pockets of any money they might have had."

"Yeah, but it's a challenge, ya know? It might be good if you come back every once in a while to satisfy their appetites. Only if you want to. A young kid like you would probably be better off staying away if you can help it, though." The barkeeper said with a sigh.

"I'll see what I can do," Allen promised. "You've been a great help for the past couple of months, after all." He bid his last goodbyes to the old man as he walked out the door, relieved that he had managed to tell him properly. The guilt had been eating at him for days. And nothing had happened, either, contrary to Kanda's fears. _Take that, bastard._

He was in a rather good as he strolled along when he heard a high-pitched squeal coming from around the corner. Alarmed, he ran over to see what was going on. Somehow, a little girl of about five or six had ended up on this side of the city. From her colorful new clothes and frightened expression, she probably wasn't from around here. A group of tough-looking strangers had started to approach her, and one of them had a knife.

Allen frowned. The strangers certainly blended in a lot better than the girl, but he couldn't shake the feeling that they weren't from this side, either. For one thing, were those reinforced bulletproof vests? And their shoes. What kind of shoes someone wore was usually pretty revealing, and these men all had on sturdy black boots, the kind that you certainly didn't get unless you could afford them and needed them. A lot.

All of this ran through his mind in a split second as he walked over, trying to look as casual as he could. He still wasn't really sure what he was trying to do. Maybe the men weren't hostile… but who the hell walked around with an uncovered knife if they weren't hostile? And something about their faces and the way they walked spoke of people used to fighting as a lifestyle. Without any feelings.

He gritted his teeth. He hated getting into fights. He hated the way his hands would shake and his blood would surge as his mind blanked out. The feelings were easy to suppress against a weaker opponent, the more cornered he became, the stronger the feelings got. It wasn't fear – Allen knew that much. It was a much colder feeling, a bloodthirstiness that scared him. And that was why he hated getting into fights. But saving the girl was more important at the moment.

"Good evening…" he said with a nervous smile, swallowing.

One of the men glanced at him before looking at another man. "That him?"

The second man gave a short nod, and Allen froze. Suddenly, Kanda's words ran through his head. _The more you go there, the more dangerous it is for you. Especially now that they've tracked you there…_

Well, shit.

The first man dived at him, but he quickly rolled out of the way. His heartbeat was already starting to race, and a familiar cold feeling of bloodlust started to rise in his chest. He suppressed it with some effort, clenching his teeth.

As if on cue, three of them jumped at him at once, and he let his instincts take over for a second. Jump, block, kick, punch, step back. _Self-defense skills_, he thought viciously. Nothing more.

"Don't move!" Somehow, one of the men had caught hold of the little girl's wrist, and she shrieked in fright. "If you move, we'll beat the shit out of this brat," he growled threateningly.

Allen hissed and narrowed his eyes, but he couldn't do anything. He quickly calculated how much time it would take for him to reach the girl, but it was no use; he was too far away. One of the fallen men behind him picked himself up and produced a pair of handcuffs. They looked new. That was fine, though, he reassured himself. He could get himself out of handcuffs no problem; that was one of the many useless things he had learned from Cross Marian.

He kept his hands still as he allowed them to snap the cold metal to his wrists. His voice was low as he demanded, "Let the girl go."

The man shrugged and obliged, and the girl ran away, crying. "It doesn't really matter anyways." He looked at one of the others sharply and said, "Inform Master Tyki that we have the boy."

_Master Tyki? What a weird name._ Allen furrowed his eyebrows. The name sounded a bit familiar, but… He shrugged. He had more important things to do at the moment, he thought as he struggled to feel the shape of the handcuffs. They were strong, but pretty standard issue. He carefully rummaged the linings of his sleeves, looking for one of the many various items that were stuffed into the makeshift pockets. It took his skilled fingers less than a minute to open the locking mechanism with a small _click._

The handcuffs fell to the ground. In a flash, he had already started running.

"Get him!" One of the men snarled, and soon the sound of footsteps were close behind.

"Call the driver! Tell him to follow with the car!"

_Shit_. Allen's blood pounded in his ears. They had a car? If they got him into one, he'd probably never make it out. He started running faster, but it was already too late. The squeal of tires skidding on concrete rang in his ears from the main street, and he quickly turned. He was in unfamiliar territory again.

He skidded to a stop as he heard yelling and a car screeching from in front of him. The sound of footsteps was behind, too. His mind racing frantically. He would have to fight, then.

After a brief debate, he chose to run away from the car, even if it meant retracing his steps. As the first men approached him, he braced himself and kicked at their stomachs. One of them was caught off guard, but the rest quickly blocked and kept coming after him, cutting off his escape route. He could hear the car approaching, too. _Damn, how many of them were there?_ At least five, and more were coming…

The car skidded to a halt as the doors clicked open. _I can't allow myself to get dragged into a vehicle_. That was his singular, frantic thought as he kicked and flailed wildly, loosing more and more of himself to his instincts. His mind was threatening to blank out again, as much as he fought it. His control was slipping, he knew.

_Crunch._

He froze as a spurt of red flashed in his vision, the sound of breaking bones filling his ears. _Blood_, he realized, feeling sick. He had kicked one of them too hard, and they had ended up flying into the brick wall behind. Something sharp had torn into the man's arm, and blood streamed down his ragged skin.

_Blood_. He had done this. A wave of nausea and disgust suddenly rose up in his throat, and he fought the urge to throw up as he fell to his knees. His head was still pounding, threatening to lose control, but his body had frozen up. _Oh god, no, please not again…_

Caught up in unpleasant memories, he barely noticed as his limp body was tied up and his hands were snapped into a new pair of cuffs behind his back. He didn't notice as rough hands bruised his arms and shoved him into the car. It was only when they tried to stuff a gag into his mouth that he snapped back to reality, his eyes wide.

_Shit_. He kicked at the man holding him, but it was already useless, he thought was a feeling of dread. And he still didn't even know why he was being kidnapped. He was just about to give up hope when the familiar sight of black hair and the glint of cold steel flashed past his eyes for a split second. From his spot in the vehicle, he couldn't see much, but he could hear frantic yells and growls from the men.

"Start the car!" One of the men shouted at the driver, but Kanda quickly broke through the window of the driver's seat and knocked the driver out with a rough punch. Allen's stomach curled as he heard the sounds of ripping and crunching, and his breath became ragged as he gasped for air. Breathing had suddenly become so difficult, he thought as he clutched at his consciousness blindly. He was only half-awake at this point, but he desperately tried to close his ears to the sounds from outside. He fought the urge to throw up again.

"Oi! Beansprout! What are you falling asleep for?" Kanda yelled furiously as he flung the car door open. Then the smell of blood assaulted Allen's nose, and he blacked out.

...

* * *

><p>...<p>

Stuff happens. Yay.

New chapter of DGM. 8D Chapter 209 makes me squee. GO KANDA. Go to your Allen. And I shall add that that is what Lenalee didn't do even when she had the perfect chance. :D (Yes, I know she had her reasons, but that's not really the point.) I mean that face he made after Johnny says he has a plan for finding Allen is just pure win. :DDD

Although I'm still confused as to when the hell Kanda got so touchy-feely. I mean, Lenalee last chapter and Johnny this chapter. But whatever. It's amusing. Well, I'm totally dumping my rant here. :I

Eh. I dun really have a lot to say about my fic this time. o.o Well, then. Thank you everyone who reviewed last time! And hope you enjoyed! And please review and look forward to the next chapter! xD


	5. Lock and Key

Lock and Key

_The smell of blood, sharp and heavy. The streaks and splatters of red, staining the ground, the bodies, his clothes… everything. The sound of dying croaks and desperate cries, filling the air and his ringing ears._

_ Stop. Stop it. Why? Why did this happen?_

_ The hateful look in that little girl's eyes. "Murderer!" She shrieked. "You killed my daddy! You monster!"_

_ No. It wasn't me. I didn't mean to. I didn't…_

"Bean sprout! Wake up!" Allen felt himself being shaken violently as the metallic scent of blood filled his nose once again. "What are you sleeping for?"

He opened his eyes with sick dread and gasped as he was met with red, pools and streaks of red, red that covered his vision, it was all blood, flowing, spurting, trickling... Had he done it again? Had he blacked out and destroyed everything around him again? "No… no… I didn't…" he whispered hoarsely. "Not me…"

A sharp slap stung his face. He looked up and blinked. No, there wasn't any blood. He breathed in slowly. No blood. None. They were back at the apartment. No blood, no one was dead…

"Oi, bean sprout! What happened?" Allen focused, and Kanda's furious face came into view. He blinked again. "_Why didn't you fight back?_"

"What…?" He coughed as the sudden attempt to speak set his throat on fire.

"Why didn't you _fight back_, you shitty piece of trash? You almost had them! Then the tiniest sight of blood and you froze up like a coward! Are you fine with getting killed or kidnapped and sold to some foreign country or getting your organs taken out? _Why won't you fucking fight back?_" He felt Kanda shake his shoulders violently again.

"Die…" he croaked. "They'll…die…"

"It's fine if they die, isn't it? They're trying to kill you, damn it!"

"No…" he gasped. "A… monster… I…" He stopped suddenly. If he told Kanda, Kanda would definitely think he was a freak. It was one thing to fight and kill for survival, but the bloodlust, the way he would black out and destroy everything around him if he wasn't careful… that was disgusting, inhuman. He inhaled sharply.

"Damn it all to hell, you have the speed and the strength and the reflexes! How come you just won't _fight_? Is it because you're scared? Because you feel sorry for them or something?" Kanda was still furious, his scathing tone icy. "Why don't you try to protect _yourself_ for once? Instead of worrying about some useless scum?"

Allen shook his head, his voice numb.

"Fine," Kanda hissed. "Don't say anything, then." He reached to grab Allen's arm before his fingers froze, and he swore vehemently.

Allen followed his gaze until he noticed the handcuffs still on his wrists. They were different from the first pair, he realized. There were at least three locking mechanisms, and none of them had a keyhole. He swallowed. This was definitely a special model, and he'd never seen anything like it before.

"We'll have to keep that on until we figure out how to unlock it," Kanda said with a grimace, glaring at Allen as if it were his fault. "I hope you're enjoying this, damn bean sprout. This is going to be a hell's worth of trouble, and you are paying me back for every fucking minute I spend on this bullshit."

Allen shifted nervously as Kanda studied the handcuffs, muttering irritably. After several minutes, he gave up, cursing. "That's some mess you got yourself in. We'll have to get Komui to come over. He works for the fucking government's weapons department, so if he hasn't seen this damn model, I'll slaughter him."

"You know Komui?" Startled, Allen glanced at him.

"Unfortunately, yes. And don't change the subject. You'd better be reflecting on your actions right now."

Allen bit his lip to prevent himself from protesting bitterly. There wasn't a thing he could have done about it. He preferred the handcuffs to going berserk, anyways.

"Who were those men, anyways?" He demanded. "You know, don't you?"

Kanda's eyes flashed toward him darkly. "You aren't exactly in a position to be asking questions right now, damned bean sprout," he hissed. "Why the hell did you go to the bar when I specifically told you not to? Do you have a death wish? Because if you do, I'll gladly help."

"Nothing happened until _after_ I left," Allen shot back.

"Obviously, they were waiting for you, shit-for-brains," Kanda snapped. "If you weren't so fucking blind, you'd know that!"

Allen bit his lip. He had known that already, of course. He shuddered as he remembered the hateful expression of the child in his memories. "At least the little girl got away this time," he muttered under his breath before thinking.

Kanda's fingers dug into his arm, making him wince. _"At least the little girl got away?"_ The low voice held more fury than Allen had ever thought was possible, even for Kanda. _"At least the little girl got away?_ Is that really what you were thinking? You'd really stoop to throwing your _fucking life_ away for some brat you've never met before?" His voice was shaking from fury. Disgusted, he shoved Allen away and stood up abruptly, stalking to his room without another word. Allen heard the door slam.

His body still bruised and battered from the attack and from Kanda's shaking, Allen lay there quietly for a few moments, trying to regain his breath. He flinched and inhaled sharply as he accidentally bumped a fresh cut, then sighed. At least this wasn't the worst mess that he had ever gotten himself into. His head still hurt, though, and he closed his eyes to rest for a few minutes.

A knock on the door interrupted him. His eyes flew open, and he realized that quite a bit of time had passed. He had probably fallen asleep. The sound of stomping came from Kanda's room as the still-furious Japanese threw the door open to reveal a fidgeting Komui. The bespectacled man waved nervously in greeting, but Kanda apparently wasn't in a mood for conversation.

"Handcuffs. Get to work," he said tersely, indicating Allen. And that was all he said before he stormed off to hole himself up in his room again.

"Who stuck a knife up his ass?" Allen muttered irritably.

Komui laughed weakly. "I'm sure he's just, uh… worried about you…"

"Yeah?" Allen scoffed. "Care to bet Lenalee's virginity on that?"

Komui winced. "Maybe not," he admitted. "Don't take it to heart. That's just Kanda for you."

Allen raised an eyebrow. "So you've seen him that pissed off before?"

"Well… no…" The scientist sighed. "Just let me see the handcuffs." Allen obeyed, turning his back to show him the metallic devices. They had already warmed up to the same temperature as his skin.

"So? Can you figure out how to unlock it?"

Komui frowned. "One of these is a combination lock, that's simple enough. There's a RFID lock… We'll need to figure out which radio frequency will unlock that, and I won't be able to do that until I get back to the lab. I think there's also a time-lock as a backup, too, but it's difficult to tell since it's still attached to your wrist. This is definitely a one-of-a-kind. I've never seen a pair of handcuffs this complex before. They must want you very, very much."

"Who?" Allen asked sharply.

"Eh?" Flustered, Komui looked up. "Um, no, that was just hypothetical… Err…" he was sweating lightly, and his voice was shaking. Allen gritted his teeth. Apparently, no one wanted to tell him exactly what he was in danger from.

"Fine, then," he snapped. "Keep your damn secrets."

Komui sighed in relief as he stood up slowly. "Sorry, Allen. Don't take it to heart too much. It's just better if you don't know for now."

"Sure," he said bitterly. "I'm sure it is."

"Well, I've gathered as much data as I could. I scanned the RFID and we'll have the department working on that immediately. Kanda can probably open the combination lock without too much trouble. The problem is the time-lock. We don't know when it's set to open."

"Okay… So?"

"We'll just have to wait."

"_What?_" Allen stared in disbelief. "Just wait… which is to say…"

"Sorry," Komui said apologetically. "There's nothing we can do about it."

"Can't you just destroy the handcuffs or something? At least I'd be able to move my hands first."

"Sorry. It's too dangerous to try when it's so close to your body. Besides, it might actually trigger some sort of defense mechanism, and that's too dangerous. Don't worry, I doubt the time-lock will last for too long… I'm certain that it was only a safety measure meant for transporting you to a secondary location."

"And what do you expect me to do in the meantime?" Allen asked incredulously.

"Well…"

"_Both my fucking hands are tied behind my back._"

"Right…"

"So do you have a plan?"

"Umm… Depend on Kanda's good will?"

"A plan that you would bet Lenalee's virginity on?"

"No," Komui admitted. Normally, he would have punched Allen, but seeing the boy's frustration, he decided not to. For the moment. "Well, anyways, I should, uh, go back and see what I can do with the results for now…" He finished lamely as he fumbled with the doorknob, sweating under Allen's dark glare. "See you soon!" He called as he all but scurried away, leaving Allen to swear profusely under his breath.

"Well, aren't you awfully concerned about Lenalee's virginity?" Kanda remarked sarcastically as he leaned against the hallway with his arms crossed. "Looks like you'll be depending on my kind and benevolent heart for a while, huh?" His voice was almost smug.

Allen resisted the urge to bang his head against the wall until he fainted. "Go die in a hole, Kanda," he muttered.

"Right. And what would happen to you? Seeing as you're obviously so lively at the moment." He scoffed. "Seriously, getting yourself caught in handcuffs? That's like hanging a 'Kidnap me, I'm defenseless!' sign around your neck or something, bean sprout."

"Thank you for the enlightening remark," Allen grated out through clenched teeth. "Your suddenly conversational mood is oh-so-endearing. I think I actually liked you better when you were acting like you had a knife up your ass."

"Shut up, bean sprout. You probably don't want to piss me off right now."

Damn bastard, he was definitely enjoying this.

"Well, it is your fault for being a fucking idiot, anyways."

Allen glared.

"By the way, you won't be able to go to school in this situation, either. So you might as well be nice to me if you want me to take notes for you."

That bastard was so dead as soon as the handcuffs came off.

...

* * *

><p>I should totally get an award for the crappiest ending to ever grace a chapter. Especially one in which stuff actually happened.<p>

/bangs head against wall. Pray tell, what the _hell_ am I writing? I swear that when I started this series, I did _not_ know plan for this. But seeing as the T rating isn't changing, don't expect too much from me. And if you were totally lost when reading this comment, that's fine. That's a good thing. You're still innocent enough that your imagination hasn't started rampaging wildly from just the situational circumstances.

On an unrelated side note, I was rereading the last few chapters of DGM. So depressing. I actually cried during Allen's backstory after Mana's death this time. D8 ALLEN BE HAPPY. PLEASE BE HAPPY OR IT'LL BREAK MY HEART. Dammit Kanda go faster I swear. You need to find him like before his birthday. PLEASE HOSHINO. I'M BEGGING YOU.

I guess that makes me a bit of a hypocrite, then. o.o I mean, I enjoy (?) screwing him over in my own fanfics but the angst in the actual thing breaks my heart. Not that I dislike that, I suppose... eh. Whatever.

Well, anyways, I hope you enjoyed. xD And please review! And look forward to the next chapter!


	6. Perspective

_Perspective_

_..._

"Um, _no._ You know what? I'm not hungry."

"Right. Suit yourself." Kanda snorted. "Although, if I may add, the day you're not hungry is the day we all get overrun by zombies or something."

"Fuck off, Kanda. You can be such a bitch sometimes."

"So you're not planning to eat?"

"I can do that myself!"

"Right." He scoffed. "Well? I'm waiting."

Allen opened his mouth to protest, but quickly closed it again and glanced at the table. His hands twisted in frustration, useless behind his back. He stared at his chopsticks – Kanda used chopsticks because he complained that the taste of the food would be ruined otherwise – as if his determination could will the bloody pieces of wood into levitating or something. _Move_, he told them, gritting his teeth. Nothing happened.

"Beautiful job. I'm just speechless with amazement."

"When did you get so sarcastic?" Allen snapped.

"Just get used to it, bean sprout. The less of a fuss you make about being fed, the less time it'll take the both of us," Kanda shot back.

"… I think I'm not hungry after all."

That broke Kanda's thin patience. Grabbing his chopsticks, he pinched the younger boy's nose until he gasped for breath and stuffed a piece of chicken in his mouth roughly. Allen gagged and almost choked on the piece as the chopsticks poked at his throat, but he finally managed to swallow, spluttering as he did.

"I'll kill you for that!" He gasped, still coughing violently.

"Not hard at all, is it?"

"_The hell!_"

"At least it wasn't spicy."

Shocked, Allen looked at him warily. "You wouldn't."

"Care to bet on that?"

"No," he admitted, grumbling. "Fine, then." He decided not to complain for the rest of the dinner.

…

As usual, it was still dark when Kanda got up the next morning. Unlike usual, though, the bean sprout was still sleeping, since he didn't have to – and wasn't able to – go to school. The house was uncomfortably quiet. Had it always been this cold in the living room? That was right, there was only one small air vent in the room despite its size. It probably wasn't healthy to sleep in this sort of cold; human bodies dropped in temperature while asleep.

Kanda caught himself fussing and swore under his breath. It had nothing to do with him, anyways. Except there was probably an extra blanket somewhere in the house, he thought, straining his memory. He tried to open the door as quietly as he could so as not to wake the bean sprout, but the stupid brat must have had supernatural senses or something, because he raised his head slightly to see what had made the noise.

"Go back to sleep, bean sprout," Kanda ordered. Seeing that it was only him, Allen obliged tiredly.

The air outside was crisp and fresh, and Kanda inhaled it with relief. He was starting to feel a bit tense in his own house. It wasn't as if he was self-conscious or anything, but the fact that there was only a single door between his room and the living room bothered him a bit. Then again, it was a good thing, because if anyone tried to break into his apartment in the middle of the night or something, it wouldn't even take a second for him to get to the living room. He hoped the bean sprout could at least last a second in an attempted kidnapping.

"Kanda! I heard about Allen from Komui. Is he alright?" Lenalee and Lavi had spotted him from behind the school gate, and they quickly ran over to greet him.

"He's fine," Kanda said curtly.

"Komui was pretty worried about him, I think. He was muttering angrily all night after he got back."

Kanda would never tell her that it was probably because Allen had been joking about Lenalee's virginity. Or had the bean sprout been serious? But then again, it had probably just been to piss Komui off.

"Have you been taking care of him properly, at least?" Lenalee asked worriedly. "I mean, he eats a lot, and I don't see how he'd take a shower—"

"Yes," Kanda cut in before she started to get into details. Honestly, the amount of worrying that she did over one stupid bean sprout was ridiculous. It was seriously ridiculous. Probably unhealthy, seeing as the damned bean sprout in question got himself into trouble on a daily basis. In fact, he was probably getting himself in trouble right now, though how on earth that was even possible was beyond imagination. Perhaps Kanda should have locked him up somewhere… but then what would happen if a fire broke out? He cursed.

"Kanda, I know you're probably irritated because you have to take care of him, but it's really not his fault… I mean, they would have gotten to him sooner or later, and it's good that you managed to rescue him, right? So don't be too mean to Allen or anything. I know you probably find it a pain, but it'll be over soon, right?" Lenalee said in a soothing voice.

"What?" He blinked. "Did you say something?" He had been considering the number of ways that a bean sprout could potentially end up accidentally killing himself while handcuffed in an almost-empty apartment.

Lavi whistled. "Yuu's sort of weird today. I can understand, though. I bet it was from having to wipe Allen's unclothed b—"

"Shut up before I stab you, stupid rabbit."

Lavi raised an eyebrow. "All right, all right. By the way, can we visit today? I don't think I'll ever get another chance to see the bean sprout de—"

"No."

"But why?" Lavi whined. "It's not fair. You're keeping him all to yourself."

"Because. Shut up."

"I bet he wants to see us."

Kanda snorted. Probably not; he'd be mortified.

"At least let me go, Kanda," Lenalee pleaded. "I'm worried about him. I'm sure he's feeling depressed right now. And you're not exactly the most comforting person in the world, you know."

Comforting? Him? It wasn't really his thing anyways. He considered the request for a moment, since it was actually reasonable.

"No," he decided.

"What? But why?"

"Because I don't want him whining or crying like a baby when he sees you." Whining, sobbing, bawling his eyes out, falling asleep in her lap while crying… all of those would be really annoying.

"Allen doesn't cry," Lenalee frowned. "Not that I've ever seen, anyways."

Really? Well, that was news. He had almost expected her to say something about how Allen always went to her when he needed a shoulder to cry on. Something stupid like that.

"Come on, Kanda, please? I'll bring Lavi. I promise I'll make him behave. Really. Allen needs our support and friendship right now."

Friendship his ass. "I doubt it," he told Lenalee with a perfectly straight face as the bell rang. "He was betting on your virginity with Komui last night."

As he walked away, he saw out of the corner of his eye Lenalee's face turning red as Lavi began stuttering uncontrollably. That would keep them away for a while, he thought with smug satisfaction.

…

When he got back, Allen was sleeping. Apparently the bean sprout had woken up at least once already, though, because he had kicked his sleeping bag into a corner of the room and had several textbooks splayed out in front of him. Kanda guessed that he had probably fallen asleep trying to read them. As he set down his bag, he leaned over to see what page the bean sprout was on. Rational functions. Lovely.

"Oi, bean sprout. What are you doing?"

"Y equals two…" Allen muttered sleepily before he realized that it was Kanda and jumped up, startled. "Don't do that," he complained. "When you whisper in my ear like that, it sounds like the voice of hell."

Kanda snorted. "At least you've been doing your work." He tossed the bean sprout a notebook. "I guess you deserve that after all."

"Um… thanks. What is it?" He stared at the notebook suspiciously.

"Notes for chem. Since your thick skull can't figure it out alone."

"Oh." He looked surprised. "That's thoughtful of you."

"Don't misunderstand. I would have had to take them anyways. I'm just letting you borrow them."

"Oh," He paused. "Thanks anyways."

A knock from outside interrupted them. Irritated, Kanda stalked over and threw open the door to find a cheerfully grinning Lenalee. He scowled. "Didn't I tell you not to come?"

"Sorry, Komui asked me to bring you the key to the RFID lock." She said, producing a small, plastic tag. After handing it to Kanda, she glanced around quickly and spotted Allen, and her expression became one of relief. "Thank goodness, you're still alive," she breathed.

Allen frowned. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I was afraid Kanda had gotten tired of taking care of you and thrown your dead body in a dumpster or something," she admitted with a grin.

"Great to see that you have such a high opinion of me. Now that you've seen that he's as alive and irritating as always, will you leave?" Kanda snapped.

"Don't be so grouchy, Kanda. I'm just paying a visit to an injured friend."

"Right, a friend who was betting on your—"

"Kanda!" Allen cut in, horrified.

Lenalee waved a hand dismissively. "I've known Allen for years. It was probably to mess around with Komui." Kanda's scowl deepened. She could be annoyingly perceptive at times.

"Whatever. I have work to do," Kanda said tersely. "So you two can chat about old times or whatever it is that you do after I leave." He stood up abruptly and walked away, slamming the door to his room. In the awkward silence that followed, they heard the soft _click_ of the lock turning.

"He really is irritated, huh," Lenalee said absently, running her hand through her hair. "I guess he's annoyed at having to take care of someone."

"I guess that's so, huh," Allen sighed. "That's understandable."

"Oh! That's not what I meant," Lenalee said, appalled at her careless remark. "No, no, no. I didn't mean that you're annoying. Kanda's just a prick, that's all. After all, friends are supposed to take care of each other. That's what we're here for."

"Yeah, but," Allen's lips twitched. "This goes a little bit beyond 'taking care of each other' in the name of friendship, doesn't it?"

Lenalee had the tact to keep silent and change the topic. "You're pretty beat up," she observed, glancing at the boy's body. A few bruises and scars could be seen from the areas of skin that were exposed at the collarbone and the wrists and ankles. "How are you doing?"

"It's not bad, compared to the handcuffs," Allen told her with a snort. "Those are really annoying. They chafe all the time, and I can't even turn textbook pages properly. I have to use my teeth, or my nose. I'd be useless in a fight, too. Not that I'm ever _not_ useless in a fight, anyways."

Lenalee frowned. "You've been staying out of fights, haven't you?"

"I _try_. It's not like it helps any when there are professional hitmen after me." He paused and added as an afterthought, "Kanda saved me last time, though."

"How long did he take? You've got some pretty bad injuries."

"Well, my bones are still intact."

Lenalee was silent for a moment. "Did you fight them?" She asked softly.

Allen shrugged. "A bit," he admitted. "But then I fainted."

"And the screaming nightmares?"

He froze. Warily, he sent a glance in the direction of Kanda's room. He'd never been in it, and he didn't know how thick the walls were, or how much he could depend on them to block them from Kanda's hearing.

"Tell me. You've seen them, haven't you? I know that look on your face." Lenalee demanded.

"Shh!" He winced as her voice rose slightly. "It's not that bad," he murmured. "I only saw it once, when I fainted. Just one memory."

"The girl and her father?"

"… yeah."

"You're not still blaming yourself, are you? It was as much their fault as yours. They shouldn't have called you a freak or attacked you, especially not since you were barely nine, and _especially_ especially not with weapons. That was absolutely cruel and inhumane. What you did was self-defense." And to tell the truth, if they hadn't been dead already, Lenalee might have wanted to go murder them herself for the pain they had caused.

"But they're right, you know. I am a freak." Allen sighed. "The bloodlust, the rampaging… Lenalee, when I'm unconscious, I've beaten people up, I've_ killed_ them. It's not normal."

"You're not a freak," she told him firmly. "No matter what, you're not a freak."

"Maybe, but that's not what other people think."

"You're afraid of what other people think?"

He lowered his eyes. Not "other people" so much as "that other person" in the room right beside them, he thought wearily.

Unknown to both of them, behind the thin walls of his bedroom, Kanda was frozen. His fingers, which were gripping his pencil so tightly that it would have snapped had it not been made of metal, shook slightly as the clock on the wall kept on ticking.

_Tick._

_ Tick._

_ Tick._

He stood up abruptly, knocking over his chair.

...

* * *

><p>...<p>

Yay, one ending that I actually do like. And it's a cliffhanger of sorts. Don't shoot me. :D

Early update! AT 2AM WHERE I LIVE. YEAHH. :D Because I have a week off from school, and therefore the only logical thing to do with all this free time is to stay up late to write fanfiction. I'm sleep deprived right now, so I don't make sense. xDDD (The chapter, however, was written while I was sane. Thankfully)

Writing obsessive Kanda is fun. Very fun. I'd do it more often, but then it would just get annoying. /sigh.

Personally, I am of the opinion that the reason why Lenalee wears such ridiculously short skirts in the manga (I mean seriously the current uniform is like what 8I) is because she is overcompensating for Komui's killer repel-all-potential-suitors aura. Not that Komui's doing a very good job, though.

Also, in the canon, Kanda needs to give Allen an awesome hug. Shipping aside, the look on Allen's face would be priceless. xD And besides, Kanda's hug probably has at least 1000x the potency of a Lenalee or a Lavi hug because a Kanda hug is nothing short of a miracle.

Well, anyways, pointless ranting aside, hope you liked. xD And please review! (To the peoples who review regularly, I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH.) And look forward to the next chapter!


	7. Fleeting Distractions

**Fleeting Distractions**

...

"What did you mean by that?" Kanda demanded, punching the concrete wall with his fist for emphasis.

Lenalee, who had just left and was on the way home, turned around, startled. "Kanda! What are you doing here? Allen will be worried if you suddenly run out like that."

"I don't care. Tell me what you meant earlier. You have thirty seconds."

"Well, I suppose you didn't notice, then… It's not surprising. Allen doesn't really like to talk about it, and he's good at hiding it, too. It's just that I've known him for a long time, so I guessed. And besides, fighting – or rather, injuring people – always brings out the nightmares, so—"

"_What fucking nightmares?_"

Lenalee stopped. "Oh," she said, biting her lip. "He didn't tell you?" She suddenly wished that she could take all the thoughtless words back.

"Thirty seconds! Explain!"

She hesitated. "It's not something he likes people to know about… so I'd rather not say anything if he didn't tell you already. Maybe you should ask him instead," she offered.

He gave her a dark look as he turned and stormed back up the stairs. When he reached to top, he slammed the front door open and grabbed a startled Allen by the arm.

"Explain everything. _Now._" He snapped, pinning the younger boy to the wall roughly.

"Kanda, calm down! Why are you getting so upset?" Allen laughed nervously, his hands twisting behind his back.

"_Because_," he hissed, "_apparently, _you've been having screaming nightmares that you haven't been telling me about. And because _apparently,_ you have some sort weird secret that you're purposefully keeping me out of, even though _we fucking live together,_ bean sprout."

"Well, it's not like I've been keeping you out of it purposefully…" Allen swallowed. "It just sort of… never came up." He squirmed, trying to get away.

"_It never came up?_ Even though I've asked you a million times why you _won't fucking defend yourself in a fight?_"

"Um, well…"

"_Well?_" His tone was unusually harsh, even for him.

"It's… a bit complicated," Allen trailed off weakly.

"Right." Kanda snorted, but he seemed to have calmed down just a little. He still didn't release his grasp on the younger boy, though. "Start talking."

"Uh, well, it's not that I was… or rather, um… I mean, it started a while ago…"

"Get to the point."

"I killed a person once," Allen let the words tumble out of his mouth. He took a deep breath. "He had a little girl. He was a father."

Kanda stared. "I've killed plenty of people," he said bluntly. "That had better not be it."

"It's not just that… I've injured lots of people, destroyed things… From as early on as I can remember – about eight, I think – I've been getting into fights. And whenever I got into a fight, the blood would rush to my head, and I would blank out. The only thing I can remember is bloodlust. I didn't even know when I was doing it… the killing, the violence…" His voice had gotten hoarse. He swallowed.

"Alright." Kanda didn't say anything else for a while, but he released his grip on the boy. After a moment's thought, he shook his head. "That's your reason for not wanting to fight?"

"Yeah."

He shrugged. "Fine. I won't force you to, then."

"You're not disgusted?" Allen raised an eyebrow. "It's normal to be. I could almost be considered a psychopath, I guess."

Kanda shot him a disdainful look. "That's not disgusting. If you want to talk about disgusting, I've got stories that would make your run blood cold." He half-smiled bitterly. "I was experimented on as a kid, you know? They wanted to make strength-enhancing drugs. If Tiedoll hadn't rescued me early on, I'd probably be dead right now."

Allen stared, unable to respond.

"So shut your trap. You're just whining about nothing."

That, Allen decided, was probably Kanda's way of telling him not to worry about it. Then again, maybe not.

Kanda appeared to think for a moment. "_Do_ you need comforting?" He asked suddenly, his face uncertain.

"What?"

"I don't know," he snapped, irritated. "Lenalee said when you're depressed, or something…"

"Oh… No, you're way is fine." He smiled. "Yeah. It's fine."

It really was fine, he thought. He hadn't felt so warm in a long time.

…

Kanda was rather silent that night, more so than usual. He considered what Allen had told him with a strong premonition of dread. There were at the moment only two things he knew about the mission:

One: Allen was being targeted by an weapons manufacturing group known as Millenium Corp., which had numerous dealings in the underworld and was run by the infamous Noah family, and

Two: Said corporation was the same one that had been responsible for the drug experiments on Kanda.

Before, he hadn't cared to know any more, but if Allen had some sort of involuntary reaction to combat, then there was a good chance that Millenium Corp's various superhuman-creating experiments had something to do with it. What kind of past had the bean sprout been through? Kanda thought with a shudder. It was probably a good thing that he didn't seem to remember anything about Millenium.

If he was going to be able to do anything, he would have to figure out the bean sprout's past, Kanda decided. The best person to ask would have been Cross Marian, but he didn't know where the man was. There was no other option, then – he'd have to interrogate Tiedoll, as unpleasant as it would be.

"Kanda? Are you okay? You've been staring into space for a while now."

Surprised, Kanda blinked and realized that he had indeed been spacing out. His hands, which had been in the middle of rinsing a plate, began moving again.

"Are you tired? I'd help, but I'm a bit stuck," Allen offered.

"No, I'm not tired, and no, I don't need help." Kanda told him. "Mind your own business, bean sprout."

"I see, so your tiny brain just suffered a small lapse in tho—"

Without even glancing back, Kanda snatched a sponge from beside the sink and flung it at Allen's head with deadly aim. The younger boy, who was sitting cross-legged on the living room floor, quickly dodged, but ended up losing his balance and falling flat on his face as the handcuffs interfered with his movements. The sponge landed on his shirt, soaking the thin fabric thoroughly with soapy water.

"Well, shit." Allen sighed. "That'll take a while to dry."

Kanda blinked. "Oh. I forgot about the handcuffs." That was as close to an apology as he could get. "Aren't you going to take a shower or change or something?"

Allen shot him a sour look. "And how, pray tell, would I do that, O Great and Wise One?"

Kanda sighed. "I'll help, alright?"

"What?" Allen blanched. "No. No, absolutely not."

"Why not?"

"_Because_." He shook his head violently.

"We're both guys, aren't we?"

"Yeah, but that's _different._"

"So you wouldn't mind if it were Lenalee?"

"Wha—No! That's even worse!"

"I don't see what the problem is."

"Because… agh, don't make me say it out loud!"

"Besides, it's not like it's the first time."

"I—" He stopped and stared. "What?"

Kanda rolled his eyes. "How _else_ do you think you got all that blood off of you back then? Magic? I had to take care of your sorry, unconscious ass, _alone_, and make sure you didn't die of some sort of internal bleeding or shit. So it's a bit too late to make any sort of a fuss now."

The words sank in slowly. Allen gulped in a huge breath of air as his head started spinning uncontrollably.

"So it's fine, right?" Kanda had already grabbed a clean towel and had turned on the faucet with a small _squeak_, running the water over it.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Allen edged away in panic. "That's still different! That's totally different! I was unconscious back then!"

"You want me to knock you out?"

"No!"

"Well, you're certainly not staying in that shirt. I'd rather not have soap all over the carpet."

"Maybe you should have thought of that before you threw the damn sponge!"

"Too late now." He twisted the tap until the water trickled to a stop and wrung the excess water out of the towel. The liquid hit the sink with an ominous series of low, echoing clatters.

Allen's back hit the cold, hard wall with a thump, and he swallowed. Maybe if he hurried, he could run… where? Lock himself in the bathroom? Not that he could even turned the lock properly… besides, the door had a keyhole on the outside, too.

"Stop making such a big deal out of this," Kanda told him disdainfully as he bent down, leaning in and unbuttoning the front of the younger boy's shirt briskly with deft fingers. "It happens all the time when people get injured, anyways."

"That's fine and all, but I'm not injured!" Allen flinched as the cold, wet cloth touched his skin, and he turned his head away, squeezing his eyes shut. Maybe if he pretended to be somewhere else, it wouldn't be as mortifying…

"Oi, bean sprout, stop curling up like that. You're really not making this any easier." Kanda's irritated voice interrupted his efforts. With some effort, rough hands pried his knees away from his chest and slipped the shirt off his shoulders.

A sudden thought struck him. "You can't take the shirt off with the handcuffs on," he realized triumphantly. "So there's no point."

"I'll just cut it off, obviously. It's not even worth keeping anymore, what with all the tears and shit."

"You'll c—" Allen's surprised cry was cut off by a sharp gasp as the cloth grazed over a sore patch of skin, and Kanda quickly withdrew his hand. A crease appeared between his eyebrows.

"What's with that?" He muttered, tracing a finger along the patch of skin and drawing another gasp from Allen.

"Will you cut that out?" He breathed. "It sort of hurts."

"You heal pretty quickly," Kanda said with a frown. "It's only been a few days. It's not completely fine yet, but…"

"Must be the… good metabolism…" Allen breathed with a bit of difficulty. "Wah! Hey… ah! Stop that!"

"Do you _have_ to be so damn ticklish?" Kanda demanded. "Stop being so damn _loud_, for heaven's sake!"

"It's not that I'm ticklish! You just keep poking me!"

"Well, that's because you insist on curling yourself up like a damn turtle or something! Just straighten out properly and it'll be fine!"

With a grimace, Allen relented reluctantly. True to his word, Kanda quickly finished in a few quick wipes before grabbing a pair of scissors and cutting away the by now beat-up shirt. The younger boy shivered slightly as a cold breeze passed over his skin.

"Well, shit." Kanda bit his lip. He'd forgotten about the second half of changing. It wasn't as if Allen could put on a shirt properly, either. "There are probably a few of those weird hospital gown things around," he muttered aloud.

"Glad to see you thought this through." Allen told him sarcastically. "Why do you even have those, anyways?"

"Long story. You can blame Tiedoll. They're clean, though," he added.

"Right. Well, that's reassuring." Allen watched warily as Kanda rummaged through several closets, swearing impatiently under his breath. It took several minutes before he finally found what he was looking for and extracted a few flimsy, white pieces of cloth. Swiftly, he unfolded one and draped it over the younger boy, deftly tying the strings.

"Um… thanks. But can't you make it a little less… big?" The makeshift shirt hung loosely over his small frame, just barely enough of a fit that it didn't slip right off his shoulders. As it was, the delicate skin around his neck and collarbone was completely exposed, and the white fabric made his arms seem even more slender than usual.

It was really distracting.

"I'm not a tailor or anything," Kanda snapped testily. "If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for getting in this mess."

Allen winced. "That's true," he mumbled guiltily, looking rather depressed all of a sudden. "Sorry."

"Whatever." After a moment's consideration, he yanked the younger boy up by the elbow and dragged him to Kanda's bedroom, shoving him in. "You're sleeping here tonight," he ordered. "If you get a cold or something, you'll be even more trouble."

"Here?" Allen echoed with disbelief. "But what about you?"

"That doesn't concern you."

"Are you sure? I don't mind sleeping on the floor as usual."

"Bean sprout. You have five seconds to go to sleep, or I will personally make sure you're unconscious."

"Right." The tone of his voice was no joke.

Kanda made sure that the bean sprout really had gone to bed before he grabbed his coat and quietly slipped out the door. It was already nighttime, but the city lights never went out. _It's artificial beauty,_ Tiedoll had told him. _And yet no less beautiful for its nature._ He knew where the old man always stayed on nights like this.

There were questions that needed answering.

...

* * *

><p>...<p>

Why do I keep uploading in the middle of the night? :D I don't even drink coffee. My circadian rhythm is just screwed up like shit. You can blame all the late-night studying I do.

At aaaaany rate, since I updated with what was apparently such a great cliffhanger last time (I totally hadn't noticed? hmm but okay since people were excited it's all good right?) I thought it was only fair to not make you guys wait too long. I think it might be a pretty tantalizing cliffy this time around, too, but I'm not entirely certain because I already know what's going to happen. xD

Well, we're approaching a rather turbulent, fast-paced area of plot here, so I wouldn't expect very satisfying endings for a while.

So how was Black Friday for everyone? Enough pushing, shoving, and cyber-line-cutting to satisfy your tastes? xD I BOUGHT A NEW COMPUTER YEAHHH. My old one's dying on me. D: I love it so much, but I don't think it'll last much longer. It was my first personal computer though. 'Twill always hold a place in my heart. (And hey, I wrote all that fanfic on it.)

Anyways, hope you enjoyed, and please review! xD


	8. Dawn of the Hunt

_Dawn of the Hunt_

_..._

A puff of smoke drifted lazily through the still night air, lit up ever so faintly by the dull orange of the street lamps. A tall, dark man with black hair that curled wispily like the smoke from his cigarette exhaled heavily while a short girl with wild hair prodded him impatiently.

"Tyki-pon, how long did you set the time-lock for?"

The man thought for a moment. "A week." He said finally with a nod. "Yeah, a week."

"It's been five days."

"Yeah. We'll have to get it done soon." He tapped his cigarette lightly, and a small flurry of glowing embers spiraled merrily to the ground.

"Geez, no fair." The girl pouted as she kicked at the ground. "You've seen Allen already, but you won't let me go."

"I told you, it's unsafe. You're not very good at disguising yourself, and there are too many of those weird kids around him. That hacker, and that scientist's sister, and even that emotionally constipated former guinea pig. They're all connected to the government."

"Whatever."

"Be patient. We'll act soon. As soon as we get Cross off our scent, that is." He grinned with all the pleasure of a wolf in the middle of a hunt. "It won't be long now."

…

"Oi, old man, open up!" A loud bang on the door made Tiedoll jump. His sudden movement knocked over the jar of paintbrushes on his table, and he winced as they landed tip-first on the dirty wood floor. Still, it wasn't every day that Kanda came to visit, and in the middle of the night, no less. In fact, now that he thought about it, he couldn't even remember a single occasion of Kanda coming to visit of his own free will.

"Kanda! I've missed you! Even though I'm you're father, you never come to see me!" He sighed as he opened the door, shaking his head. "For you to come here is rare. Is something wrong?" He asked.

"Yes," his adopted son told him curtly. Whatever he was here for, it hadn't put him in a good mood. Tiedoll waited.

"You didn't tell me the whole story," Kanda accused with a glare.

"The whole story?" The old man wrinkled his forehead in thought, perplexed.

"Why does the Noah family… Why does Millenium want the bean sprout so badly?"

"Bean sprout? You mean Allen?"

"Of course! Who else would I mean?" Kanda snapped.

"Why do you want to know?" Tiedoll blinked, dumbfounded. "I thought you didn't care about things like that."

"I have a right to know, if you're going to make me babysit him!"

"Well…" the old artist sighed. "If you really want to know, I suppose you have a right to, but… it's not pretty."

"I can figure that much out," Kanda told him tersely.

"It's actually not that complicated, really. How much do you know about Allen's past?"

"Does that matter?" Kanda asked, irritated.

"I have to figure out where to start, after all," the old man said complacently as he adjusted his spectacles. "You already know about how he's lived with Cross for three years. Anything else?"

"Something about getting into fights as a kid," Kanda said vaguely, unsure of how much he ought to reveal. Tiedoll, however, looked surprised.

"He told you about that? Well, that's good, then. That makes things much simpler. To be honest, I don't know the complete details myself, but…" He shook his head. "Anyways. Before he lived with Cross, Allen was raised by a man named Mana Walker. Do you recognize the name?"

Kanda scowled. "Should I?"

"Cross and I have worked together for the government in a special undercover unit for years. Longer than I can even remember."

"Yeah. And?"

"Mana Walker was the leader of our team. He died three years ago."

"Three years ago? So the reason Cross took care of the bean sprout is because his father…"

"Died." Tiedoll finished gravely.

"Why Cross? Why couldn't they have left Allen to someone _normal?_"

The old artist shook his head sadly. "That would have been too dangerous. Allen isn't Mana's biological son, Kanda. Mana rescued – or perhaps I should say stole – Allen from a Millenium laboratory the same way I rescued you when you were five. And Mana, and after him, Cross, have been keeping Allen hidden from the Noah for all this time."

Kanda's mouth tightened. So, it was just as he thought. "Allen is one of the humans they experimented on?"

Tiedoll nodded. "That's right. Like you."

"Why is he so important? Surely one human guinea pig can't be worth that much trouble."

At that, the old man hesitated. "It's a bit different, actually… I told you that Allen was rescued when he was eight, right?"

"Yes. And?"

"In the three years between your rescue and Allen's, the Noah were rather busy. When they were experimenting on you, all they wanted was to make strength-enhancing drugs. By the time they started Project Fourteenth…" he shuddered involuntarily. "They were trying to make a biologically altered living weapon."

Kanda stared at him in disbelief. "What?"

"Allen's not quite human anymore. From what I know, he was surgically altered and more or less drowned in chemicals for two years. I don't know what the effects were; all we knew the day we took the mission was that there was a potentially destructive weapon in the Noah labs. We didn't save him out of pity or mercy, Kanda. We saved him because he was _dangerous._"

Slowly, Kanda blinked and shook his head. "That's…"

"I know it's a lot to take in. To be honest, I was hoping you'd never ask about this. But the truth is, Allen is the Noah's precious ace, their living human weapon. I can't imagine how many failed trials they must have gone through before they finally succeeded. It's already a miracle that we managed to go through seven years without him being found."

"Does Allen know?" Kanda interrupted as he stood up abruptly, ignoring the rest of the old man's talk.

Tiedoll blinked. "I don't think so. I'm pretty sure he's forgotten everything from before Mana adopted him…"

Relieved, Kanda sank back into his chair. It was probably better if the stupid bean sprout didn't know, for now, at least. It would shock him at least twice as much as it had shocked Kanda.

"Is that all you needed to know?"

"Yeah. Thanks, old man."

Thanks? Kanda had said thanks? Tiedoll almost chuckled to himself. Wonders would never cease, he thought wryly as he asked, "At least stay for dinner?"

Kanda shot him a disparaging look. "Does it look like dinnertime to you?"

The old artist shrugged. "You never know. I haven't eaten yet."

"Tch." Without bothering to say another word, or even a proper good-bye, Kanda was already out the door. At least some things would never change, Tiedoll thought with a sigh as a single puff of cold night wind slipped in through the doorway, tinged with the scent of smoke.

…

"Yuu…" Lavi poked his friend absently with a pencil, bored. "Hey, Yuu…"

"What?" Kanda hissed, whipping his head around viciously. "I'm trying to pay attention."

"It's lunchtime. Pay attention to what?"

"What?" Kanda blinked and glanced around before scowling. "Whatever. What do you want, you damned rabbit?"

"Aww, Yuu, were you daydreaming? That's so cute."

"If you don't have anything important to say, then go away."

"Wait! I was going to say that we should all go to your house today and visit Allen! To, um, help him catch up on schoolwork." He added the last part as an afterthought.

"No."

"What? At least think about it. Lenalee will bring soba," he promised, with a glance at Lenalee. She nodded approvingly.

"No."

"Not even soba will sway you?" Lavi asked, dumbfounded. "But why?"

Kanda glared at him. "Because. Shut up."

"Come on. It'll cheer Allen up," Lenalee cut in pleadingly.

"You came yesterday. And it didn't exactly help," Kanda snapped accusingly.

"That was different. Something festive will be good for him."

"No."

Lavi inspected him suspiciously. "Why?" He asked again, studying his friend's expression closely.

The ever-so-distracting mental image of the hospital gown draped loosely over Allen's slender frame, slipping off his shoulders and revealing the surprisingly delicate skin around his collarbone, flitted of its own accord into Kanda's thoughts and broke his concentration for a second.

"Because no, and if you ask again, I'll slice you to pieces and feed you to the dogs."

Lavi grinned. "I see. Fine, fine then. Just relax."

"Lavi!" Lenalee glared at him. "How can you just give up like that? And really, Kanda, I know you only think of taking care of Allen as a job, but can't you at least be a little nicer? Would it really kill you to let us visit for a while?"

Kanda shot her a withering look. "You're not coming over, and that's that."

"You can be such an _ass!_" Lenalee burst out, furious. "We've been asking for ages! It's not like it's that much of a request, is it? Can't you think of Allen a little? Even if you're annoyed at having to take care of him, you don't have to go out of your way to be abso—"

"Lenalee." Lavi interrupted her tirade a bit nervously. An angry Lenalee was not something to be trifled with, after all.

"What?" She turned her piercing glare towards the redhead.

Fed up already, Kanda stood up briskly and gathered his belongings. "You can complain all you want, but you are _not_ coming over. Even if you come, I'm not opening the door."

"Wha—! Kanda, you had better not be l—"

"Wait, Lenalee!" Lavi whispered something to her hastily as Kanda walked out of earshot. As he spoke quickly in hushed tones, the livid expression on her face melted into one of shock and disbelief.

"Are you serious?" She turned to the redhead, stunned.

Lavi nodded. "Right. So don't worry too much." He grinned. "In fact, let's make a bet. If, sometime within the next week, Kanda _doesn't_ come running to us, totally flustered, because of something to do with Allen, I'll treat you to a dinner at any place you like."

Lenalee pursed her lips in consideration. "Really?" She asked, still dubious.

"Am I or am I not a first-class snoop? Besides, I've known Kanda all my life. You only know him through Komui and the job, so you don't get his more subtle behaviors."

"Fine." She still didn't believe him, but…

"Although," Lavi muttered, half to himself, "I still really want to know what it is about Allen that Kanda doesn't want to let us see."

…

The door made not a sound as it opened, but nonetheless, Kanda heard a small shuffle from the corner of the room as a sleepy figure looked up.

"Kanda, you're back?"

"Really, bean sprout, is sleeping all you do?"

"Hey, it's nice to actually be able to get enough sleep for once," Allen told him seriously. "And besides, I do try to read. It's just difficult. Maybe you should try being handcuffed and see how you feel."

"And put myself at your mercy? Yeah, right." Kanda scoffed. "I'd rather throw myself out the window."

"Glad to see that you understand exactly how I feel," Allen muttered sourly.

"Really? I don't see any dead bodies under my window, though. In fact, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you rather liked it." He smirked.

"Well," Allen gritted his teeth. "I'm _very_ glad that you know better, right?"

"Whatever you say, bean sprout."

Allen resisted the urge to pound his head against the wall—he disliked pain. And smashing Kanda's head in was out of the question until his wrists were free. The best thing to do in this situation, he decided, was just to ignore the idiot and go back to sleep.

"What, going to sleep again?" Kanda raised an eyebrow. "Besides, didn't I tell you not to sleep outside while you're wearing such a ridiculously thin piece of clothing? I'd rather you not catch a cold on top of being completely useless."

"The fact that I'm wearing this is your fault! Don't make it sound like I'm the one to blame!" Allen jumped up indignantly, forgetting that he was in the middle of ignoring Kanda.

"That's why I'm being a responsible adult and giving you my room. So shut up and appreciate it."

"I can't stay in _that_ room!"

"What, is there something wrong with my room?"

"Because it's _yours!_"

"The lack of skeletons, bloodstains, and torture devices still bothering you? I believe that's what you said when you first came here, isn't it?"

"No! I mean, yes, that's what I said, but no!"

"Eloquent, aren't we?"

"Gah! Do you have to be such an asshole all the time?"

"Will you just stop whining about something so insignificant? What's so bad about sleeping in that room, anyways? It's not like there's anything there, other than a desk and a bookshelf."

"But it _smells_ like…" Allen stopped.

Kanda raised an eyebrow. "Smells like what?" He couldn't recall anything that might make his room smell different from the rest of the house.

The younger boy mumbled something incoherent. Kanda's eyebrows snapped together in irritation.

"Just spit it out already."

"It smells like you," he snapped, his face turning red. "Like that weird flowery stuff you use on your hair."

"… Soap?" Kanda asked, truly perplexed.

"Right. Sure. Whatever."

"Oh, for the love of—That's it? _Soap?_ Since when did you have an issue with soap?"

"Well, that's because no one else uses that weird flowery scent," Allen muttered sourly.

Kanda snorted. "It's herbal. And besides, Lenalee wears much heavier stuff half the time."

"Why are you bringing Lenalee up? Look, it's just distracting, okay? It makes it hard to sleep. Why are you so insistent on making me sleep there, anyways?"

_Because,_ Kanda thought, gritting his teeth, _the window in that room has metal wiring on it so that dumbass kidnappers can't get in. And because you'll probably die of cold long before the handcuffs unlock._ "Just shut up and go already. I'll give you five seconds before I skin you alive. Five… Four…"

"Alright, alright, sheesh. Evil overlord," the younger boy muttered as he scrambled away hastily.

"… two… one." Kanda glanced around. Muffled swearing could be heard through the walls, but other than that, there was no sound. The metal wiring on the windows in his room would make plenty of noise if anyone tried to break them, so the bean sprout was probably safe for the night. Even so, he couldn't shake an uneasy feeling of foreboding.

There was something out there. Something was hunting that night.

...

* * *

><p>Go Tyki go! Tyki's appearance automatically makes things 15% more awesome.<p>

CHAPTER 210. CHAPTER 210, PEOPLES. /SPAZZ.

Now Hoshino just needs to say that Kanda's not gonna die anymore. D8 Because it's killing me. Seriously, if he dies now it will not be funny at all.

Pfft I have nothing interesting to say this time. 8D I've been working on fanart lately cuz Yullen seeeeriously doesn't have enough fanart. It has tons of fanfic but not enough fanart. 8'D

(but that's sort of okay cuz Hoshino more or less draws the fanart for us. :D /shot.)


	9. Danger

Danger

"…_there were found none who put forth hand to seize him; so that, unimpeded, he passed within a yard of the prince's person…"_

Kanda glared at his textbook as if his gaze could burn a hole through it. After a few moments, he became convinced that glaring at the paper could achieve nothing, so he settled for staring impatiently at the clock, waiting for class to end. All through the day, he had been restless with unease, and now more so than ever.

"…_There was a sharp cry - and the dagger dropped gleaming upon the sable carpet, upon which, instantly afterwards, fell prostrate in death the Prince Prospero."_

He glanced at the clock again. Ten more minutes. Surely ten minutes couldn't possibly drag on for this long. At least Lavi was asleep, so the damned rabbit couldn't bother him as usual.

"…_and now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall…"_

Really. Only a minute had passed? He kept on staring intently, but the bright red letters of the clock did not move as if for the sole purpose of antagonizing him.

"…_and Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.__"_

Everyone had already fucking _died_, so why were they still in class? He fumed.

"… _the colors, for example. Some themes in this story appear to be…"_

Screw the themes. He waited as the class began murmuring, mirroring his impatience. He didn't really care, but _that fucking clock needed to move already._ Two minutes left.

Lavi had woken up and was yawning widely. He really should be less conspicuous about falling asleep. Not that anyone cared.

_Riiiing._

Without even waiting for the others to react, Kanda had already grabbed his bag and stormed out the door. The winding city streets had never seemed more pointlessly long than they did that day, and he found himself swearing profusely under his breath by the time he finally got back. He slammed the door open.

"Bean sprout!"

Silence. Kanda waited, his blood growing cold. There wasn't so much as a shuffle in the house. Perhaps the bean sprout was in his room? He checked, but it was empty.

"Oi, bean sprout! If you don't answer within one second, I'll stab you until you don't even resemble a bean sprout anymore!"

No answer. Cursing, Kanda scoured the apartment for any signs of the boy, but there was nothing at all. Not even any scratch marks on the door or walls. No forced entry, then? But that didn't make any sense.

He walked into his room slowly. It really did smell faintly like the herbal soap he used. Not by choice, but since Tiedoll insisted on sending boxes of the stuff to him every year as part of his Christmas package—something about essence of lotus oil and health benefits—he had decided that he might as well use it. It really didn't smell that bad; in fact, Kanda rather liked it, though he'd never admit as much. Why the bean sprout had such an issue with the smell was a complete mystery to him. _A distraction,_ he had said. The hell?

A trace of another scent – a mildly sweet one – made him freeze. He sniffed again, but there was no doubt. Chloroform. Someone had used chloroform in the apartment, and the only logical conclusion was that it had been used to knock Allen out while they kidnapped him.

With the handcuffs still on. Which meant that even when he woke up, he wouldn't be able to escape.

Kanda's heart began thudding.

Someone had known that the handcuffs were still on. Perhaps even planned for it. Was that why the time-lock still hadn't unlocked after six days? They had been planning to get the bean sprout while Kanda's guard was down?

No time. There was no time. He rattled the doorknob impatiently as he flung the door open and raced out onto the streets for the second time that day. Where would the bean sprout be? He didn't know where the Noah would take him. There were at least a million different possible locations.

Lavi, he thought. If anyone could find out, it would be Lavi, the genius hacker who had access to a seemingly infinite number of information sources. He'd have hell – namely, his pride – to pay afterwards, but there was no other option. His feet automatically took him in the direction of the redhead's flat.

"Kanda?" The surprise in Lavi's face as he opened the door was apparent. "What are you doing here? And why is your face all red? Have you been running?"

"Stop asking so many questions and let me in!"

"Is something wrong? Oh, Lenalee's here."

"What? Why is Lenalee here?" He scowled and said tersely, "Never mind. I need you to find Allen."

"Find Allen?" Lavi blinked. "He's gone? Where?"

"I don't know! That's why I'm asking you!"

"Kanda, calm down! Tell us what happened," Lenalee coaxed, more than a bit surprised at the unveiled distress in the normally apathetic Kanda.

"I don't know what happened! All I know is that the bean sprout is missing, and there's the smell of bloody chloroform!"

"Kidnapped?" Lavi frowned. "By the Noah?"

"Probably. So get to work! Hurry up!"

"Wait. Calm down and think this over properly before you do anything rash. If you could smell traces of chloroform still, that means that they probably haven't been gone for long. Like as not, they're still currently traveling to a secondary location. If we don't know what the vehicle they're in looks like, we can't search for them."

"So what should we do then, genius?" Kanda snapped.

Lavi chewed the inside of his mouth, his mind racing. "I've got several contacts inside and around the Noah labs in this area. If they've been planning to kidnap Allen this whole time, they must have made preparations. I can ask around and see if we can't find anything," he said as he quickly flipped open his laptop – made by himself from scratch, of course – and opened up several windows, his fingers flying over the keys.

"How long will this take?"

"I don't know," the redhead admitted. "It may take a while. You can go home for now, and we'll notify you if—"

"I'm staying."

"Really? It won't affect the mission even if you do go home," Lavi told him dubiously. "You don't really have to stay."

"It's faster."

"Suit yourself."

Kanda waited impatiently as Lavi became engrossed in the flashing screen, inspecting several emails thoughtfully before occasionally typing in a response. There were pictures and satellite shots, but nothing seemed to satisfy the redhead. As an hour, and then two, ticked by slowly, Kanda grew restless and had to force himself to sit still rather than just bursting out the door and searching blindly.

"Is there anything yet?" It was Lenalee who spoke, her voice heavy with worry. "You don't think they'd do anything to Allen, would they?"

Lavi clicked on yet another message before responding. "Nothing useful yet. Anyways, I don't think they'd hurt Allen if they went to the trouble of preparing special handcuffs and chloroform. Otherwise, they'd just have broken a few of his bones or something." Lenalee winced at the mental image, and Kanda let out an involuntary, murderous hiss.

"Oh!" The redhead's eyes scanned his screen several times before he furrowed his eyebrows thoughtfully. "This is probably it. There's a small lab beyond the city limits that might be it. It hasn't been used for anything important in a while, apparently, but it's been recently prepared and restocked for who-knows-what. My contact says that there aren't any files about the place from before seven years ago. They must have been destroyed or hidden."

"Alright. I'm going. The address?" Kanda asked brusquely.

"Wait! We're going as well." Lenalee spoke up.

Kanda shot her a glare but couldn't refuse. If it could get the job done sooner, he wouldn't have any complaints. Even if he didn't like it.

"Alright. This is the address, and a map. The place is an hour's drive away, so they're definitely already there. We should hurry." As he spoke, Lavi grabbed a hat and a dark green coat, his expression completely serious for once. The two of them followed as Kanda quickly headed out into the night air.

…

When Allen woke up, the first thing he thought was, _it doesn't smell like Kanda's weird flower-soap-stuff._ The second thing he thought was, _what's that sickly sweet smell, anyways?_ Chloroform, he realized, his heart sinking. He didn't know why he knew what the stuff smelled like, but whatever the reason was, it wasn't a good sign.

It took him a while to realize why he was so disconcerted, but he eventually noticed that the handcuffs were, in fact, off. In exchange, however, both his wrists were strapped to what looked and smelled suspiciously like some mad scientist's surgical table from a bad sci-fi movie. He decided that he preferred the handcuffs.

"Tyki-pon, he's awake." A cheerful girl's voice interrupted his thoughts.

From another room, there was a grunt in response. "Less than two hours. That's impressive, from the sheer amount we gave him."

"His body hasn't deteriorated much even without proper maintenance for years," the girl said happily.

"More importantly, though, the command system calibration has been ruined. If it worked, we wouldn't have to go through all of this fucking trouble to get him here."

"Sorry to interrupt your conversation, but who the fuck are you and what the hell did you kidnap me for?" Allen cut in, annoyed. And more than a bit nervous.

"Kidnap?" The girl's eyebrows furrowed. "We didn't kidnap you. You belong here. If anyone kidnapped you, it was that damned Mana Walker."

"What?" Allen frowned. "I don't understand what you're saying. He was my adopted father. How could he have kidnapped me? And besides, you're obviously the ones who knocked me out and brought me here against my will."

"Tyki-pon, he doesn't remember us," the girl said petulantly. "What should we do?"

The man had already returned, carrying a clipboard and several folders stuffed full with paper. "It's fine, Road. He'll remember after we readjust the calibration. And we'll probably have to rewire the nerve circuits, too. His brain chemistry's going to have changed in all of these years."

"Excuse me?" Allen asked in disbelief, his blood suddenly feeling cold. His brain? Nerve circuits? He really didn't like the sound of that. And the fact that he was strapped to a table in a room that smelled of disinfectant…

"We have to wait until Lulu gets here?" The girl named Road whined. "But she takes _forever_."

"Will you please tell me why the hell I'm here already?" Allen almost yelled, his skin breaking out in cold sweat as his heart thumped wildly.

Road turned to study him with catlike yellow eyes. Suddenly, her face broke into a wide, mischievous grin. "Allen, you've gotten much cuter. You were cute before, but now even more so. Tyki, isn't he cute?"

The tall, dark man glanced at him before turning his eyes back to the paper. "I dunno. He looks kind of scrawny. The way the shirt slips off his shoulders is pretty sexy, though."

"He looks like a doll!" Road told him happily before turning to Allen. "You promised we'd get married before."

He stared at her, dumbfounded. Were they all insane?

"Road, don't get married to someone who looks like a fucking girl. Uncle Tyki and Daddy will be sad."

"Shut up, pedophile. You're not my uncle." Road stuck her tongue out at him. "I know you just want him for yourself, anyways."

Tyki snorted. "Not likely. I have standards. And don't forget the point of the mission, Road. He's not just your toy, remember. He's a valuable – and potentially dangerous – product."

The cold look in the man's eyes made Allen shudder. He didn't know what was going on, but everything in the room screamed danger, and he wanted to scream, yell, kick, anything to get rid of that biting uneasiness in the pit of his stomach. He hated, more than anything, the feeling of being helpless, but he couldn't see any way out of his current situation.

_Kanda,_ he prayed fervently, squeezing his eyes shut. _Get here soon. Please._


	10. Under Human Guise

_Under Human Guise_

...

Everything was black. He couldn't see anything at all, feel anything at all, except for coldness. Then, a dim light began to enter his consciousness, and suddenly, his mind exploded in a fiery white pain. He gasped.

"Lulu, he's conscious again! Do something!" A girl's voice said urgently.

A cold, female voice snapped, "We don't have time to give him another dose of anesthesia! It's his own damn fault for waking up too soon."

"Lulu!"

"Rhode, if your damn _feelings_ get in the way of the procedure, Father will _not_ be happy."

The girl didn't respond to that.

Allen didn't have any time to dwell on the conversation as another jolt of electricity streaked through his body, burning his nerves and setting his flesh on fire. His breathing became heavy and ragged, and he gasped for air.

"Isn't it done yet?" It was the man's voice – Tyki's – this time, and it sounded strained. "You've already done four runs."

"It's not my fault! We haven't recalibrated the system in seven years, and he's been going through the most rapid growth spurts in his life! You can hardly expect his brain to remain unchanged, can you?" The woman named Lulu was rather touchy, it seemed, despite her impersonal manner. In a way, she was sort of like Kanda. Where was Kanda, anyways? Allen half-thought through the pain and fogginess.

"One more run. If this doesn't do it, we'll have to reset the entire system." She turned and pressed several keys on a large machine, and Allen gasped again as a fresh wave of fire ran through his body. He would have screamed, but some part of his pride still refused to do so. After several minutes, the pain subsided into a dull throbbing. No one said a word.

"Did it work this time?"

There was the sound of typing and clicking. Finally, the woman named Lulu spoke. "I think so. Tyki, test it out."

"_Me?_ Fine, then." He sighed and walked over to the worn-out boy and stared intensely at him. "Listen," he said softly as he pressed a small, black microphone to his lips. "Do you recognize my voice?"

Allen winced as the voice seemed to echo in the very core of his mind. A familiar whiteness began to take over his mind, and he resisted instinctively, fighting for control of his own consciousness. _Why? I'm not in a fight right now. Why am I starting to faint?_ He clenched his teeth so hard that it felt like they would break, resisting his fading control.

"_Listen._" The voice pressed harder. "_This is a command._"

"No… I…" He croaked, desperate to do anything to keep himself awake. He bit the inside of his mouth fiercely, and the pain seemed to push back the whiteness for a moment as the metallic taste of blood ran over his tongue. Still, he was fighting a losing battle.

Tyki sighed and leaned back in his chair. "It works, but it appears that he's built up quite a resistance over the years. We have some work to do."

"That's fine," Lulu told him with a flick of her slender fingers. "As long as the calibration is set properly. We really can't afford to have him die on us, after all. It's not like we can make any more."

"Still, it'd be nice if—" He was interrupted by a loud crash from the next room. All three of them froze and turned to look at the door. As if on cue, several seconds later, it burst open, revealing a furious Kanda. Allen thought vaguely that he had never been happier to see the face of hell.

"_What the fuck do you think you're doing? _You have three seconds to answer, and if it's not something mind-blowingly amazing, consider your life over," Kanda snarled as his hand gripped his knife so hard that his skin was almost white. If he had been pissed the day Allen had gotten himself handcuffed, that was nothing next to this. Did Kanda even have a maximum anger capacity?

"Wait, Kanda! Calm down! Don't do anything rash!" Lavi's voice rang out from behind the door as the sound of two sets of footsteps approached. Behind him was a slightly out-of-breath Lenalee. "We need information."

"Oh, if it isn't one of the guinea pigs for Project Second," Tyki said with an annoyed frown. "Looks like you're back."

"We should have killed all of them when we had the chance," the woman named Lulu said, narrowing her eyes.

"_Why don't you just fucking die?_" Kanda hissed, lunging forward at Tyki despite Lavi's protests. The tall man easily dodged, but Kanda swung around quickly and slashed again, narrowly missing the man's face.

"Stop and put down that weapon," Lulu told him icily, "or we'll make sure that you never get your _friend_ back again." She spat the word out with disdain as her hand rested threateningly on the keyboard.

Kanda froze and turned around to glare at her. "You wouldn't _dare_. I know you need him for your sick experiments."

"That is irrelevant. We only need the body, after all," she said coolly, unperturbed at the utter shock and horror on the others' faces.

"Are you serious?" Lenalee asked with disbelief. "You only… You…" She couldn't force the words out.

"That's right." Her manicured fingertip traced small circles on a small black button idly. "So I'd suggest that you don't do anything rash."

"That's a bluff. If you could do that, you would have done it already." Kanda spat, but his voice was uncertain.

Lulu half-smiled. "No, it's a bit dangerous. We would have preferred not to. And anyways, Rhode would have complained."

"Kanda." Lavi spoke slowly, his eyes fixed on the machine. "Don't do anything rash. We have no choice." Kanda was about to yell at him, but the deliberate movement of Lavi's hands caught his attention. They moved just slightly into two letters in sign language. _Go._

He didn't think twice. In a flash, he kneed the dark man in front of him before slamming him into the wall and tearing his knife through his stomach. Stunned, the woman quickly pressed her finger against the key, and Kanda's stomach tightened. After a moment, however, it was clear that nothing had happened, and Lulu's eyes narrowed. Suddenly, they widened and flew towards Lavi, who was grinning with unmasked triumph.

"You hacked the system?" She asked in disbelief. "That's impossible."

The redhead bowed as he tipped his newsboy cap in mock graciousness. "Unparalleled genius, at your service." As he straightened up, he couldn't resist adding, "And it wasn't even that difficult. I did it just a few moments before we entered the room." He didn't bother to mention the enormous amount of prep work that he had done beforehand.

"You can't take Allen!" Rhode cried, panic in her voice, as she stepped in front of the table, throwing her arms out. "We spent so long getting him back!"

"_Move, or I'll fucking kill you,_" Kanda's eyes were steady and burning with fury, and his tense posture promised what he had said.

"Rhode, we're retreating," Lulu said quickly, grabbing the younger girl's arm and dragging her out of the room.

"Wait! Kanda, don't let them go, we need to see if we can get any information…" Lavi sighed. His words were wasted, as Kanda had already begun loosening the straps around Allen's wrist, ignoring everything else in the room.

"How is he?" Lenalee asked frantically, rushing over as well.

"Unconscious. He probably fainted early on." Kanda had already untied all of the straps and was lifting the boy's limp, slender body with uncharacteristic gentleness.

"It's a good thing, isn't it," Lavi murmured. "He didn't have to hear or see any of that." With a sigh, he glanced at the other unconscious body in the room, which belonged to the tall, dark man. "Speaking of which, is he… dead?"

"Not unless you crush his head in," Kanda said tersely. "Noah can't die from just that."

_ From just that…_ Lavi swallowed, unable to tear his eyes away from the blood pooling out of the vicious slash wound in the man's stomach. He resisted the urge to vomit and quickly withdrew from the room. Lenalee and Kanda, who was carefully holding Allen's body, followed.

"We'll have quite a bit of walking to do, since we parked the car pretty far from here. Are you sure you don't need help carrying Allen, Kanda?" Lavi glanced at the taller boy, but he knew that his words were useless as soon as they left his mouth. Since when had Kanda ever needed help? Aside from today, anyways.

"No," Kanda told him curtly.

When they got to the small, green car, Kanda softly laid the unconscious body down on the cool leather seats before sitting down himself, resting Allen's head in his lap. He didn't think Lavi would get into a car accident at this point, but nonetheless, he kept a hand firmly on the limp body just in case.

As soon as the doors slammed shut, Lavi licked his lips in anticipation and flicked the switch, setting the car into drive. He was about to slam his foot onto the pedal before he remembered that he had an injured passenger and instead carefully inched his way forward until they hit the main Rhode. Without thinking, he glanced in the rearview mirror, and he was suddenly incredibly glad that he had been careful. If he hadn't, he'd probably have been slaughtered.

Reassured that Lavi was being careful while driving, Kanda turned his attention back to the bean sprout. His skin was cold and slightly damp. With a frown, Kanda placed one hand on Allen's forehead, but there didn't seem to be a fever. That was good. His breathing was rather ragged, and his face was twisted into a pained grimace. After some time, though, Allen's eyes twitched slightly, and he murmured something incoherent.

"Oi, bean sprout?" Kanda ran his fingers through Allen's snowy hair.

The younger boy half-opened his eyes, but his gaze was still unfocused. So faintly that Kanda almost thought that it was his imagination, he mumbled, "…smells… like flowers."

…

"We left Tyki back at the lab!" Rhode yelled as Lulu dragged her away quickly.

"Tyki will be fine. He's a Noah, after all. We're not like the rest of those petty humans who court death with every step." But Lulu's voice was tense, almost frightened. No, she _was_ frightened.

Rhode snatched her wrist away from the blonde woman's cold fingers. "You made us leave Allen behind," she said accusingly, her voice low. "And Tyki, too. We're going back to get them."

"That's insane!" Lulu snapped. "Don't risk yourself for such silly purposes."

"Lulu." Rhode's voice was suddenly low and threatening. "Are you disobeying me?" She gazed at the older woman steadily, an icy glint in her expression.

"No…" Lulu narrowed her eyes.

"Good. Then we—"

"Rhode," a male voice interrupted. Both of them spun around to see Tyki limping towards them, unsteady but obviously alive. He grinned. "Don't worry, I'm fine. And as for Allen… it'll be okay this time. We got the command system recalibrated. If we need him back, it won't take nearly as much trouble."

Rhode gave him a wary look, but eventually relented. "Fine," she told him. "But if Lulu ever tries anything funny again…"

"Don't worry. She wouldn't have actually tried anything messy," he reassured her, with a meaningful glance at the woman. Lulu narrowed her eyes but gave a terse nod.

"Allen isn't like the rest of those useless humans," Rhode said as she gazed at the blonde woman, her voice as cold as steel. "Don't think that you can just dispose of him whenever you wish."

Lulu flinched, but she didn't look away. "He's not a Noah. He's not above death."

"_Don't you dare disobey my orders, Lulu Bell._"

"Fine." She snapped, trembling slightly inside.

"Good." Rhode said as she flashed one last icy smile at her.

_This isn't over yet._

_..._


	11. Confrontation

Confrontation

...

_When you look at yourself in the mirror, what do you see?_

"Where…" Allen opened his eyes in panic, but the entire room was dark. He gasped. "No! I—"

"Shh. Calm down. We're home. You're safe." A low, gentle voice murmured as warm fingers patted his head reassuringly.

"Kan…da?" Allen asked uncertainly, his head still blurry. But the voice, it had to be him.

"Yeah."

"You look stupid."

"Shut up, bean sprout."

Allen breathed a sigh of relief. It was him after all. He strained his memory, but he couldn't quite recall what had happened. "What time is it?" He asked.

"Eight thirty-seven. It's nighttime."

"What happened?"

Kanda raised an eyebrow. "You don't remember?"

Allen frowned. "No… All I remember is getting kidnapped… There was a room and…" He stopped. The rest of his memory was blurry.

"Well, I suppose that's a good thing," Kanda muttered to himself quietly.

"What?" Allen turned his head slightly.

"You're an idiot, but that's fine. It's still amazing how much you can forget." Despite his words, his voice held no trace of irritation. "Are you still feeling sick?"

Allen winced and sat up slowly, fighting the urge to throw up. "I'm fine," he mumbled. "I have a week's worth of school to catch up on, don't I?"

"You're worried about _school_ at this point?"

"Well, yeah," he said defensively.

"Shut up and go to sleep. You're not going to school for another week, at the very least." Kanda placed a hand on his head and tried to push him back down.

"No!" Allen shoved his hand away with a hint of panic in his voice. "I'm going! I'm definitely going! There's nothing wrong with me, okay? I'm perfectly normal!"

_Normal._

"Why are you so insistent on going? You need rest," Kanda snapped, frustrated.

"Don't be ridiculous," Allen gasped, struggling to get up. "Why would… I need rest…?" He winced as he almost fell over and caught himself against a wall.

"I don't understand why this is suddenly such a huge issue!" Kanda grabbed his arm as he began to sway. "You didn't have such an ridiculous reaction to missing school before!"

"I'm completely normal. There's no reason to miss school. None."

Seeing that the younger boy was adamant, Kanda hissed in irritation and relented. "Fine, then. Tomorrow's Saturday, so if you rest properly during the weekend, I'll let you go, alright?"

Relieved, Allen nodded. "Yeah."

…

It wasn't until well into the afternoon that the bean sprout woke up the next day. He still looked rather dazed, but at least his skin was a much healthier color, and his eyes were a bit brighter. And he had changed into real clothes.

"Finally awake?"

"Yeah." Allen yawned. "I'll make something to eat now, I guess. Do you want anything?"

"No."

"Alright." The younger boy was in a rather good mood as he swiftly tied on an apron and opened the fridge and pulled out several ingredients. By himself. With his own hands. He hummed happily as he turned on the stove and grabbed a frying pan. "Hey, I'll make dinner today, too," he offered. "Since I haven't done that in a long time."

"Obviously, you can't."

"What? Why not?" Allen asked, offended. "And I was being nice enough to offer."

"What would be the point in resting if you just did work the whole time?" Kanda glared. "Don't be stupid."

"It's just a bit of cooking," Allen told him with a frown. "It's nice to finally be able to move around properly."

"Tch, fine, then. Do whatever you want." Kanda rolled his eyes. "Simple people have simple pleasures."

"There's nothing wrong with that," the younger boy scoffed as he worked, expertly tossing the contents of the frying pan. "By the way, what have we done in class recently?"

Kanda glanced up from the papers he was reading and thought for a minute. "Molecular orbital diagrams and shit. We have a test on Monday, by the way." Allen grimaced. "And in English, we read some lovely, heart-warming short stories about death and bloody murder. Friday was _Masque of the Red Death_, if I remember correctly."

"Oh, I've read that. That's it?" He sniffed the food and quickly turned off the stove, dumping the contents of the pan onto a plate before grabbing a pair of chopsticks and sitting down.

"Pretty much. Lovely story, isn't it?" He snorted.

"Everyone dies," Allen said pointedly through a mouthful of food.

Kanda shrugged. "Technicalities."

"Well, since you're disagreeable, I'm sure you liked it. By the way, you never did get those bloodstained skeletons and torture devices installed."

"It was _bloodstains_ and _skeletons_, bean sprout. If you're going to say it, then get it right. Besides, didn't you have enough of torture devices at that freaky lab?"

"What are you talking about?" Allen asked with irritation.

"The—" Kanda stopped. "Oh, that's right. You forgot." He smirked. "Memory span of a goldfish."

Allen glared but didn't respond as he scarfed down the rest of his food as dumped his plate in the sink. After taking a few moments to locate the sponge – he scowled at the object as he remembered the offenses it had committed at an earlier point in time – he briskly scrubbed both the pan and his plate before drying them and putting them away. He didn't like work, but it really did feel good to be able to move his hands freely again.

After cleaning up properly, he rummaged through his textbooks until he found the right ones and pulled them off of their shelf, dumping them unceremoniously on the carpet and sitting down with a heavy thump. "I wonder if I should call Lenalee and see if she knows what I'm supposed to do for homework," he sighed.

Without looking up, Kanda tossed a paper airplane at him. It hit him square in the forehead, and he winced. "Ow," he complained as he rubbed his head, unfolding the paper. He blinked in surprise. "It's a list of what we did each day."

"Lenalee wrote it," Kanda told him flatly. "She has more classes with you."

"Wow. Thanks. Did you ask her to?" He asked, scanning the list.

"Tch. Mind your own business, bean sprout." That was as good as a yes, then.

"I didn't know you were inclined to be nice occasionally," the younger boy commented with amusement.

"Don't get used to it."

"Fine, fine." Allen shrugged, grinning. He looked up as Kanda suddenly stood up, a scowl on his face. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Kanda told him. "I have to do something. Mind your own business."

Allen raised an eyebrow. "Do something?"

"Yes. Shut up."

"How soon will you be back?"

"I don't know," Kanda snapped. "Probably not before dinner."

"What, ditching me for some lovely girl you met coincidentally at the bar late last night?"

"Late last night, I was saving your sorry ass," Kanda told him scathingly, "and unlike you, I don't make it a habit of mine to frequent shady bars. I don't like alcohol."

"That leaves just the 'lovely girl' part, then," Allen sighed dramatically.

"Those don't exist. And stop acting like Lavi. It only makes you stupider." Without waiting for a response, Kanda slammed the door shut and stalked down the stairway, his face grim.

His fingers clenched around a small piece of paper, wrinkling it and crushing it as if that could destroy the words written on it.

_Dear little guinea pig,_

_ Meet me at that very special place. You know the one. Probably. There might be a few things we can talk about. For example, my dear little Allen?_

_ Love,_

_ Road Camelot Noah_

A special place… he couldn't think of anywhere other than the bar where Allen used to work. The stupid bean sprout had almost gotten himself kidnapped there twice. How? The place was supposed to be safe, but obviously the Noah were better at infiltrating than they'd been given credit. Kanda gritted his teeth.

The small, black door was hard to spot, but the unmistakable stench of alcohol that wafted from inside gave it away immediately. Kanda had to resist the urge to kick the door open as brutally as he could, and instead settled for simple throwing it open roughly. The room inside was loud anyways, though, and no one paid attention to him as he entered.

With a quick glance, he located the young girl, who was sitting with catlike grace at a table near the corner. She would have been hard to spot but for the fact that the tables around her were empty. Whether or not they did it consciously, people avoided the Noah if they could.

"What do you want?" Kanda demanded bluntly as he slid into the seat across from her. "Spit it out."

Road grinned. "Can't we just socialize? Like a normal boy and girl our age?"

"No. Shut up and get to the point or I'm leaving."

"Fine, fine. Not interested in girls, I see." Road leaned back in her chair smugly, crossing her arms behind her head.

"That's not the point. Why did you call me here?"

"Oh, well, the reason is quite simple, actually. Leave Allen to us."

"No."

"Don't be so pigheaded for once," Road said easily with a wave. "Listen carefully. You're up against one of the most dangerous organizations in the world. Its leaders are nearly immortal. Why stick to Allen if it's nothing more than a job?"

"You're telling me to ditch my mission?" Kanda asked incredulously. "That's ridiculous. You must all have rotten brains."

Road sighed heavily with mock disappointment. "Oh, you silly little guinea pig," she said, shaking her head. "That's the point. It's _just_ a mission. You're not a fool, so you know there's a good chance you'll die if you try to face us head-on. Be smart and leave. Tell that doting father of yours that you can't do it anymore."

"Like hell I will."

Road narrowed her eyes. "Why? Is it really worth getting killed to do your job? Since when did you develop a sense of _honor_, little guinea pig?"

"This has nothing to do with something shitty like honor," Kanda scoffed.

"Then why?"

He shrugged dismissively and made to get up. "Whatever. This conversation is over."

"Hang on." Road's hand snaked up to grab Kanda's wrist as he prepared to leave. "This isn't over yet. In fact, we're just getting to the good part." She smiled, her expression suddenly ice-cold. "If you had just been willing to leave my dear little Allen like a good boy, this would have ended quickly, but it seems that we have a problem here."

"Is that so?" Kanda glared at her, snatching his hand back. Nonetheless, he sat down and folded his arms expectantly.

"You see, little guinea pig, Allen is _mine_. He's been promised to me since nine years ago."

Kanda snorted, and Rhode hissed.

"The problem, then, is that you don't seem to understand that. You seem to think that Allen is _yours._"

"That's ridiculous. And besides, Allen doesn't 'belong' to anyone. You just have a twisted way of thinking."

"Is that what you really think?" Rhode asked softly. "Hmm, then do you want to know something interesting about him?"

"Interesting?" Kanda glanced at her sharply.

"For example," she told him with a wide smile that revealed her sharp teeth, "Did you know that the back of his neck is quite sensitive?" Her dark fingers trailed over the skin of her own neck slowly until it rested in the curve that met the shoulder, and she leaned forward with a secretive whisper, "Right here."

Kanda stood up abruptly, almost knocking over the flimsy wooden table. "That's _sickening_," he hissed viciously, his clenched fist slamming onto the tabletop. In a flash, his knife had appeared in his hand, the metal glinting furiously. The last time Allen had seen her, he had been _eight. _"You disgusting, twisted… I'll—"

"Ah, but hang on a moment," Road said with a grin. "Don't worry, it's not what you think."

"_Not what I think?_" He snarled, his weapon still tensed for a fight.

"Indeed. So calm down and let's have a talk, shall we?" She pushed a glass of bubbling orange-yellow liquid towards him casually. "A drink, then, first."

Kanda smelled the sour taste of alcohol without even leaning in, and he grimaced in disgust.

"Don't worry, it's not poisoned," she told him, lifting the glass elegantly and taking a sip as if to prove it. "See?"

"I don't screw around with things like that."

"Fine," Road said, pursing her lips. "Although I wonder how well you can protect a certain silly little puppy if your body can't even take a bit of alcohol…"

Wordlessly, Kanda snatched the glass from the dark-haired girl and drained its contents. "You were saying?"

Road giggled. "Yes, that's beautiful. You really are so silly, little guinea pig. Didn't you know? Noah can't be poisoned or drugged. That glass had an extra bit of a special little something."

Kanda's eyes widened as a sudden feeling of dizziness washed over him. He clamped his hands against his mouth as nausea coursed through him and his stomach threatened to overspill. All the strength had left his body.

"What… What do you want to achieve with this?" He managed to force out, glaring.

"Nothing much," Road told him, her smile cruel and vicious. "Just don't forget how human you are. So weak, so helpless. That's all."

"Why… why not… just kill me?" He coughed.

"Why not indeed? Because," she said, suddenly gripping his arm tightly, "that wouldn't be satisfactory. I won't kill you until you truly understand that Allen is _mine._ I won't let anyone else have him, not Lulu, not Father, not even death itself. And certainly not _you._ So until I rip him from your arms and cast you into a place where you can't even see him, I won't kill you."

"Insane… you…" Kanda's vision began blurring, and he almost collapsed from his seat. He dug his fingernails into his skin, hoping that the pain would keep him conscious.

"You won't have time to worry about that. It looks like your friends have noticed me. They'll bring you back to your silly little house, and Allen will know how pathetic you really are. Isn't that wonderful?" She whispered into his ear.

Footsteps, hurried, frantic ones, approached them. Kanda thought he heard Lenalee's worried call, but everything was foggy and unclear, nothing but background noise to the screaming in his head.

"Tsk." Road sighed as the footsteps got nearer. "I'll be taking my leave now. See you soon, little guinea pig." And then her presence was gone, like a shadow that melted into the night.

"Kanda! Kanda, are you alright? The barkeeper told us that there was a Noah here!" Lenalee shook him gently, but her words sounded faraway to his ears. "Kanda! Wake up!"

"Don't bother," Lavi told her, sniffing the empty glass. "That's some pretty strong stuff they slipped in there. And Kanda's never had a drink, either, so it's not like he's got any resistance. We'd better get him back to his apartment."

Kanda's fingers gripped Lavi's arm desperately. "Don't!" He hissed hoarsely.

"What?" Lavi glanced at him sharply. "But you're—"

"Not while… the bean sprout…" he coughed weakly, but he had already reached his limit. Lavi caught him as he swayed and then fell, unconscious.

"Let's get him back," Lenalee said quickly.

"No…" Lavi shook his head. "We'll bring him back to my room."

"What? Why?"

"Didn't you hear him?" Lavi sighed, shaking his head. "He doesn't want Allen to see him like this."

"See… what?" Lenalee and Lavi both whirled around at the sound of a familiar voice. Speak of the devil, Lavi thought wryly, as Allen stood just a few feet away from them, his eyes wide, the shock and panic in them apparent.

"_What happened?"_


End file.
